Japan consumer prices down in June for fourth month

Japan's core consumer prices fell for a fourth straight month in June, dealing a fresh blow to the country's faltering war on deflation, official data showed Friday.

The 0.5 percent decline came as the Bank of Japan wraps up a meeting later in the day amid speculation it will further ease monetary policy after the government unveiled a huge stimulus package this week.

It was worse than the average 0.4 percent drop expected by economists, according to the Nikkei business daily.

The government also said spending by households across the country fell 2.2 percent from a year earlier.

Japanese officials are under intense pressure to deliver as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to fire up the world's number three economy, dubbed Abenomics, stumbles.

Friday's meeting is the BoJ's first since Britain's shock vote last month to quit the European Union.

The referendum result hammered financial markets and sparked a yen rally that is threatening corporate Japan's bottom line -- and aggravating concerns about growth.