Government data on Friday showed Japan’s core inflation jumped to 3.5% in April, its highest in more than 2 years. The rise is attributed to the country’s inclined prices as the central bank considers pausing its rate hike posture to assess the impact of U.

The core inflation figure was higher than expectations of 3.4%. Headline inflation climbed 3.6% from a year ago. Japan's core inflation accelerated to 3.5% in April, government data showed Friday, bolstered in part by surging rice prices,

Hotter-than-expected core inflation supports a Bank of Japan interest rate hike in July. The BoJ is expected to deliver a 25 bp hike and then stay put for a considerable time due to high uncertainty surrounding US tariffs.