Annual inflation in prices for services sold to businesses and governments reached 3.7% in September, up from 3.5% in August, helped by ocean freight, which contributed 0.2 percentage points to the acceleration. Excluding international transport, the rate held at 2.9%, while inflation in labor-intensive services slowed to 2.6%. The Bank of Japan is due to announce its decision on October 29-30 after raising its overnight rate target to around 1.25% on September 18; with nominal wages up 3.8% year on year in August, the policy signal remains complex, as producer price data do not directly measure consumer inflation. For investors using borrowed yen, a faster tightening path or yen appreciation could raise funding costs and force leveraged positions to unwind, including bitcoin exposure, although no current deleveraging has been established.
Source: Read the original article
