Japan's Economic Growth Slows, Weighing on BoJ Rate Hike Plans

Japan's economic growth has slowed down to 0.3 percent in the April-June quarter, according to official data released on Monday.

This is a decrease from the previous three months' growth of 0.5 percent and falls short of the expected 0.5 percent forecast by Bloomberg.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) had been contemplating a rate hike as inflation accelerates in the world's fourth-largest economy, but the weaker-than-expected reading has weakened this case.

Taro Kimura at Bloomberg Economics said that Monday's figures 'weaken the case' for a September increase, which markets had increasingly priced in.