Japan June wholesale prices post record annual drop

TOKYO, July 10 - Japanese wholesale prices fell a record 6.6 percent in June from a year earlier, Bank of Japan data showed on Friday, reflecting falling commodity and energy prices.

The fall in the corporate goods price index was bigger than a median market forecast for a 6.4 percent drop and followed a revised 5.5 percent annual decline in May.

Wholesale inflation fell away after hitting a 27-year peak in August last year, as the global financial crisis sent commodity prices tumbling.

Overall final goods prices, which track prices of final goods charged to businesses, fell 3.9 percent from a year earlier in June. Domestic final goods prices, which loosely track the consumer price index, dropped 2.6 percent.

Details were as follows (preliminary, with percentage change; economists' median forecast in parentheses; some previous figures may be revised):

JUNE MAY APR MAR JUNE INDEX

Year-on-year -6.6 (-6.4) -5.5 -4.0 -2.5 102.6

Month/month -0.3 (-0.1) -0.5 -0.6 -0.3 -- To view the full tables, go to http://www.boj.or.jp/en/type/stat/boj_stat/cgpi/cgpi0906.pdf