Japan's core inflation cools in June as expected, coming down from 29-month high as rice prices ease

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Japan's core inflation cooled to 3.3% in June, coming down from a 29-month high of 3.7% as rice inflation showed signs of easing. The figure — which strips out costs for fresh food — was in line with the 3.3% expected by economists polled by Reuters.The headline inflation rate in the country dropped to 3.3%, coming down from 3.5% in May, but marking the 39th straight month that inflation has run above the Bank of Japan's 2% target.

The so-called "core-core" inflation rate, which strips out prices of both fresh food and energy and is closely monitored by the BOJ, climbed to 3.4% from 3.3% in the month before.Rice prices, which have seen their fastest rate of increase in over half a century in May, saw a slight easing to a 100.2% increase year over year, compared to the 101.7% jump in May.