tokyo march 3 reuters  core consumer prices in japans capital a leading indicator of nationwide trends rose 33 in february from a year earlier slowing sharply from a nearly 42year peak hit last month in a sign the boost from rising raw material costs may be ebbing but inflation in tokyo still exceeded the bank of japans 2 target for the ninth straight month keeping the central bank under pressure to phase out its economic stimulus the rise in the tokyo core consumer price index cpi which excludes fresh food but includes fuel matched a median market forecast it followed a 43 increase in january which was the fastest yearonyear increase since may 1981 government data showed on friday the data heightens the chance that nationwide consumer inflation will peak in february as the effect of past increases in fuel and raw material costs begin to taper off analysts say the pace of inflation slowed due in part to the governments energy subsidies to ease the pain on households from soaring electricity bills an index for tokyo excluding both fuel and fresh food costs which is closely watched by the boj as a gauge of price pressures driven by domestic demand was 32 higher in february than a year earlier picking up from januarys 30 rise nationwide core consumer prices rose 42 in january from a year earlier hitting a fresh 41year high as an increasing number of companies passed on higher costs to households with inflation exceeding its 2 target the boj has seen its yield curve control ycc policy come under attack from investors betting it will soon have to change policy and allow a nearterm interest rate hike markets are rife with speculation the central bank will phase out or abandon ycc under incoming boj governor kazuo ueda who succeeds incumbent haruhiko kuroda in april under ycc the boj guides shortterm interest rates at 01 and the 10year bond yield around 0 with an implicit ceiling set at 05