Japan core inflation likely remained 0%; IP may have edged up

Japan will release key April economic data on 29 April, including core inflation, industrial production (IP), and job data.

Core inflation is expected to have dropped to 0.0% y/y in April from 2.2% in March as the base effect due to the April 2014 sales tax hike has started to wane. 

A 2% inflation target remains a distant goal for the Bank of Japan, and it is believed that the bank needs to ease still further in H2-2015. IP likely rebounded by 1.0% m/m in April after declining for two straight months. 

Q1 GDP showed better-than-expected investment readings, which may imply a gradual pickup in business activity. 

"We expect the unemployment rate to have stabilised at 3.5% in April, with the job-to-applicant ratio rising to 1.16 from 1.15 prior", says Standard Chartered.