Japan trade surplus above expectations

692.84 JPY billion surplus in June of 2016 was recorded in Japan, compared to 60.90 JPY billion surplus a year earlier and beating market expectations of 494.8 JPY billion surplus. Year-on-year, sales dropped by 7.4 percent to 6,025.46, JPY billion in June, following an 11.3 percent fall in May, while markets expected an 11.6 percent decline. Imports decreased by 18.8 percent from a year ago to 5,332.63 JPY billion, compared to a 13.8 percent decrease in a month ago and above market expectations of 19.7 percent drop.

"The surplus is largely attributable to smaller imports while exports lack a driver for expansion" with demand remaining weak in Asia including China, said Yuichiro Nagai, an economist at Barclays Securities Japan Ltd.

Market Snapshot



Equity Markets: Top performers: India, Australia, Netherlands. Worst performers: Hong Kong, US Small Cap 2000, Hong Kong China H-Shares. The S&P 500 gained 0.46 percent, to 2,175.03 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.52 percent, to 5,100.16. Japan's Nikkei  rose 0.4 percent. The broader Topix added 0.4 percent to 1,332.11 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 rose 0.6 percent to 11,981.78. The Australian index, S&P/ASX 200, rose 0.60 percent, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.33 percent.

Currency Markets : Top performers: AUD/USD, AUD/JPY, EUR/CAD. Worst performers: GBP/AUD, CHF/AUD, CAD AUD. The euro was down 0.1 percent at $1.0965 after falling to a one-month low of $1.0955 on Friday. Against the safe-haven yen the dollar was up 0.3 percent at 106.52. Sterling steadied at $1.3116  after falling roughly 1 percent on Friday. The Australian dollar was also little changed, at $0.7471, after falling 0.4 percent on Friday against the broadly stronger dollar.

Commodities Markets: Top performers: Wheat, Natural Gas, Soybean Oil. Worst performers: Platinum, Palladium, Cotton. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $45.59 per barrel, down 10 cents from their previous close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $44.09, also down 10 cents a barrel. Spot gold fell 0.4 percent at $1,317.04 an ounce.  Silver, which fell about 3 percent last week, was down 0.7 percent to $19.46. Palladium, which touched a fresh near nine-month high on Friday, was down one percent to $673.50. Platinum was down 0.7 percent $1,069.05 an ounce.

Treasuries: Top performers: Euro Bund, Euro Bobi. Worst performers: US T-Note 10 Year, US T-Bond.  The five-year JGB yield fell 1.5 basis points to minus 0.350 percent and the benchmark 10-year yield fell 1 basis point to minus 0.240 percent. The 30-year yield, on the other hand, rose 1.5 basis points to 0.270 percent.