Japan's reconstruction-fueled rebound waned in the secondquarter as consumer spending growth almost stalled and export gainsdiminished, increasing the chance for monetary and fiscalstimulus.

Gross domestic product advanced an annualized 1.4 percent in thethree months through June, less than the median estimate of 2.3percent in a Bloomberg News survey of economists and down from 5.5percent the previous quarter, a Cabinet Office report showed inTokyo today. Unadjusted for prices, GDP contracted at a 0.6 percentannual pace.

Consumption rose the least since households cut spending in theimmediate aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake, signaling afading boost from government incentives that have supporteddomestic demand. With yen strength and Europe's crisis curbingexports, today's report escalates pressure on policy makers to headoff a deeper slowdown in the world's third-largest economy.