Japan's central bank will hold a monetary policy meeting later this month, with market expectations that the key interest rate will remain unchanged. Before the meeting, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Statistics Bureau announced today (the 18th) that Japan's national consumer price index (CPI) in September showed a year-on-year growth rate narrowing to 2.5%, in line with market expectations, compared to the previous value of 3%.

Excluding fresh food, Japan's core CPI inflation rate in September narrowed to 2.4% year-on-year, the first decline in five months, still slightly higher than the market's expectation of 2.3% increase, with the previous value at 2.8%. Japan's core CPI has been at or above the central bank's 2% target level since April 2022.

Excluding fresh food and energy, Japan's core core CPI rose by 2.1% year-on-year in September, up from 2% in the previous period.

The yen fell below the 150 level against the U.S. dollar on the previous day (17th), hitting a low of 150.32, the lowest in over two and a half months. This morning, it stabilized slightly, with the latest rate at 149.98 yen per dollar.