• The BOJ said in its statement it could reduce its purchases of Japanese government bonds after the next monetary policy meeting, scheduled to be held on July 30 and 31.
• During the intermeeting period, the BOJ said it will collect views from market participants and will decide on a detailed plan for the reduction of its purchase amount during the next one to two years or so.

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• The consumer price index held flat in May though it increased 3.3% from a year ago. Both numbers were 0.1 percentage point below market expectations.
• Excluding volatile food and energy prices, core CPI increased 0.2% on the month and 3.4% from a year ago, compared with respective estimates of 0.3% and 3.5%.
• Price increases were held in check by a 2% drop in the energy index and just a 0.1% increase in food.

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• Total mortgage application volume surged nearly 16% compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($766,550 or less) decreased to 7.02% last week from 7.07%.
• Applications to refinance a home loan jumped 28% last week, compared with the previous week.

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