Wholesale prices rose 2.4 percent in October from a year earlier for the 44th straight monthly gain to hit a 10-year high, as surges in crude oil prices caused inflationary pressure for a wide range of raw materials, the Bank of Japan said Monday.

The prices, gauged by the BOJ's corporate goods price index, stood at 103.9 against a base of 100 for 2000, reaching that level for the first time since May 1997, the central bank said in a preliminary report.

On a month-to-month basis, wholesale prices gained 0.3 percent.