By Leika Kihara
TOKYO Japan's wholesale prices rose 5.8% in April from a year earlier, but the pace slowed for the fourth straight month, data showed on Monday, suggesting that consumer inflation will begin to moderate as cost-push pressures ease.
The rise in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, followed a 7.4% annual increase in March.
The yen-denominated import price index fell 2.9% in April from a year earlier after a revised 9.6% gain in March, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) data showed, a sign the cost of importing fuel and raw material was peaking.
The data underscores the BOJ's view that core consumer inflation will likely begin to slow later this year as the effect of past spikes in raw material costs begins to dissipate.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Kim Coghill)
