Investing.com - In a recent report from Japan's Ministry of Finance (MOF), it was revealed that exports in Japan experienced a modest increase of 1.5% year-on-year this past June.
This growth rate, although slightly below the predicted rise of 2.2% by economists surveyed by Reuters, does show an improvement over May's figures which saw a marginally lower boost at 0.6%.
However, on the flip side, imports took quite a hit during the same period. The data indicated a sharp decline of close to 12.9%, surpassing even the median estimate which had anticipated a significant decrease around the region of 11.3%.
Yet despite these mixed results in trade performance, Japan managed to record its first surplus concerning trade balance after almost two years - specifically after being stuck in deficit for consecutive twenty-three months prior to this point.
The recorded trade surplus stood at approximately $307 million or about ¥43 billion yen according to current exchange rates – notably higher than expectations which had forecasted another deficit amounting to ¥46 billion yen.
The USD/JPY was trading 0.2% higher at 139.38.