Japan Trade Surplus Y85.2 Billion In Jan

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Japan posted merchandise trade balance of 85.2 billion yen in January, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That was sharply higher than forecasts that had called for a deficit of 135.8 billion yen following the 545.3 billion yen surplus in December.

Exports surged 40.9 percent on year to 4.902 trillion yen, topping expectations for a 40 percent annual increase after the 12.1 percent annual expansion in the previous month.

Exports to the rest of Asia were up 68.1 percent on year as exports to China alone saw a 79.9 percent annual increase.

Exports to the United States jumped 24.2 percent on year, rising for the first time in 29 months. Exports to Europe were up an annual 11.1 percent.

Imports were up 8.6 percent on year to 4.817 trillion yen versus forecasts for an 11.5 percent annual increase after the 5.5 percent decline a month earlier. It was the first annual increase in 15 months.

Tempering the imports was a 3.0 percent decline in crude import volume, which came in at 18.3 million kiloliters. The crude import bill was 810.45 billion yen in January, up 76.1 percent on year.

Naphtha and gasoline imports were up 45.7 percent on year at 2.19 million kiloliters, while LNG imports gains an annual 1.7 percent at 6.0 million tons.

Seasonally adjusted, the trade balance showed a surplus of 728.4 billion yen. That topped forecasts for a surplus of 544.5 billion yen following the revised surplus of 655.9 billion yen in December.

Also on Wednesday, the Bank of Japan noted that an index measuring corporate service prices in Japan declined 1.0 percent on year in January, coming in at 97.4. That followed a 1.5 percent decline in December to 97.8.

On a monthly basis, prices eased 0.4 percent following the flat reading in December.

Among the rising components were transportation, leasing, advertising and finance. Communications and real estate services ended lower.

Following the release of the merchandise trade balance and corporate service price index for January, the yen edged slightly higher against its major opponents. It rose to 83.3 against the Swiss franc, 122.0 against the euro, 139.3 against the pound and 90.2 against the U.S. dollar.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)