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TOKYO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Japanese wholesale prices fell 0.2 percent in January from a year earlier, below a median market forecast for a 0.3 percent increase, Bank of Japan data showed on Thursday.
It was the first year-on-year fall since December 2003.
That followed a 1.1 percent rise in the previous month. after hitting a 27-year peak in August, as the worsening global crisis sent the price of commodities tumbling.
The final goods price index, which tracks prices of final products charged to businesses, fell 3.0 percent from a year earlier in January.
Details were as follows (preliminary, with percentage changes; economists' median forecast in parentheses; previous figures may be revised):
JAN DEC NOV JAN INDEX
Year/year -0.2 (+0.3) +1.1 +2.8 105.5
Month/month -1.0 (-0.6) -1.2 -1.9 105.5 To view the full tables, go to: http://www.boj.or.jp/en/type/stat/boj_stat/cgpi/cgpi0901.pdf (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto)