BOJ Hawkish Tone Boosts Odds of September Rate Hike

Japan's wholesale inflation continues to surge, rising 7.2% in July from a year earlier, according to data released by the Bank of Japan on Thursday.

This marks a slight decrease from June's revised 7.3% gain and misses market forecasts for a 7.4% increase.

The producer price index also edged up 0.1% in July on a month-on-month basis, after a revised 0.5% increase in June.

The yen-based import price index rose 29.1% in July from a year earlier, after a revised 30.1% surge in June, indicating that the currency's weakness is pushing up import costs and broader inflation.