TOKYO: Japan posted a surprise trade surplus last month as the value of energy imports slumped on falling oil prices, official data showed yesterday.
The surplus, the first since March, stood at ￥111.5 billion (US$902 million) last month, compared with a deficit of ￥741.76 billion in the same month of last year, the finance ministry said in a statement.
Economists polled by Bloomberg News had expected a trade deficit of ￥246.3 billion.
Overall, Japan’s exports fell 2.1 percent last month from a year earlier, while imports decreased 13.4 percent, according to the official figures measured on a customs-cleared basis.
The decline in exports was the first since August last year. The value of exports by Japanese firms to China shrank 3.6 percent last month, the finance ministry said, outpacing the overall decline.
Shipments to the US, another major market, rose in value terms due to the weak yen but slumped in volume, the figures showed.
Last month’s trade surplus comes after Japan recorded a half year of deficits.
Earlier this week, the government released data that showed the economy had contracted for the July-September quarter, sending Japan into a technical recession.
Tokyo stocks rose 1.07 percent as investors weighed the Bank of Japan’s decision to keep its monetary easing program unchanged, pushing up the yen against the US dollar.
The Nikkei 225 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 210.63 points to close at 19,859.81, while the broader TOPIX of all first-section shares closed up 0.87 percent, or 13.85 points, at 1,600.38.
