MNI BRIEF: Japan Aug Consumer Index Fall First In Nine Months

Japan's consumer confidence index fell to 36.2 in Aug from 37.1 in July, its first fall in nine months as all components worsened from the previous month, however, the Cabinet Office left its assessment unchanged, data released Wednesday showed.

The fall aligns with Bank of Japan concern that high prices will impact private consumption and cloud the outlook for a continuous moderate rise.

The Cabinet Office repeated that consumer spending showed signs of improvement. Aug's level was flat against June's print, the Consumer Confidence Survey showed. The sub-index on asset prices, not included in calculating overall consumer confidence, stood at 43.6 in Aug, down from 44.1 in July.

The data also showed that the share of respondents projecting consumer price gains rose to 93.7% in Aug from 92.8% in July, for the first rise in two months. The share of respondents forecasting lower prices fell to 1.9% from 2.1%.