Wholesale prices rose 1.7 percent in November from the previous year, stretching the uptrend to a 14th consecutive month on the back of rising oil prices, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
The prices, measured in the central bank's corporate goods price index, also grew 0.1 percent on a month-to-month basis for the first rise in four months, but a BOJ official said a "bearish" tone is expected for a while amid the slowdown in overseas economies and global commodity markets.
The index stood at 104.7 against the 2005 base of 100, the BOj said in a preliminary report.
By product, petroleum and coal products jumped 14.2 percent year on year, while prices of data and communications equipment, facing cutthroat competition in Japan, slumped 8.7 percent.
"In the short term, the index could go either up or down depending on the global commodity markets or exchange rates. But if you even out such monthly moves, I expect a bearish move to stay for a while," an official said.
He also said the recent massive flooding in Thailand, which disrupted supply chains for industrial parts, didn't have a major impact on domestic wholesale prices overall, although prices for specific products, such as hard-disk drives, were affected because the disaster created shortages.
Export prices lost 3.2 percent in yen terms and grew 1.4 percent on a contract currency basis. Imports grew 8.7 percent in yen terms, while surging 14.6 percent on a contract currency basis.