Japan consumer confidence rises above expectations in September

Japan's consumer confidence improved in September, although households overwhelmingly expect prices to increase over the coming year, official data showed Thursday.

According to the Cabinet Office, the consumer confidence index increased by 0.4 points to 35.3 in September, up from 34.9 in August.

The latest reading surpassed the consensus forecast of 35.2 cited by FXStreet.

The index is based on a survey conducted on September 15 covering 8,400 households in Japan.

Regarding price expectations for the year ahead, 93.4% of the surveyed group expect prices to go up, unchanged from the previous month.

2.3% of those questioned expect prices to go down, an increase of 0.6 percentage points. Meanwhile, 2.4% anticipate no change, representing a decrease of 0.5 percentage points.