Core inflation in Japan surpasses expectations, but remains below 2% for the fifth month.

Data released on Tuesday morning by the Bank of Japan showed that the core inflation rate for the country's central bank defied expectations and accelerated in November, yet remained below the Bank of Japan's inflation target of 2%, marking the fifth consecutive month of doing so.

According to the data, the core consumer price index released by the Bank of Japan recorded a year-on-year growth of 1.7% in November, which was higher than market expectations that indicated a slowdown in the core inflation rate to 1.5%. The previous reading for the core inflation rate from the Bank of Japan stood at 1.5% in October.

It is worth noting that the core inflation index of the Bank of Japan measures changes in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers, excluding food and energy prices, which represent about a quarter of the overall consumer price index but tend to be highly volatile, disrupting the fundamental trend of inflation.

The Bank of Japan typically pays more attention to core inflation data, as do traders, since this influences the Bank's monetary policy decisions, which in turn affects movements in the Japanese yen.