Japan's Current Surplus Falls in August

Hiruki Nakamura
08 Oct, 2014
New York City

Current account was in surplus for the second month in a row but fell sharply in August. However trade deficit in August was the record for the month on rising imports of liquefied natural gas. Toshiba Corp said it plans to discontinue its e-book reader business only after launching 18 months ago.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Current account was in surplus for the second month in a row but fell sharply in August. However trade deficit in August was the record for the month on rising imports of liquefied natural gas. Toshiba Corp said it plans to discontinue its e-book reader business only after launching 18 months ago.[/R]

Nikkei average in Tokyo trading declined for the second day in a row after the yen gained and the International Monetary Fund lowered global growth prospects.

The Ministry of Finance said current account surplus in August declined 31.1% to 287.1 followed by 416.7 billion yen surplus in July.

Exports in the month increased 1% from a year ago to 5.64 trillion yen on the rising shipments of machinery but imports rose 2.3% to 6.46 trillion yen largely on the rising purchase of liquefied natural gas.

The trade deficit in the month climbed to 831.8 billion yen, record for the month, compared to 282.1 billion yen deficit in July.

The current account surplus is expected to keep widening as the yen depreciation in the year is expected to push up profit from overseas investments. However, trade deficit is not expected to shrink anytime soon.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 187.85 or 1.2% to 15,595.98 and the broader Topix index decreased 16.04 to 1,274.85.

The yen gained 0.2% and closed at 108.22 against one dollar.

Stocks in Review

Daiken Corporation slipped 1.1% to 276 yen after the housing equipment maker said net sales in the second-quarter ending in August jumped 5.3% to 5.12 billion yen from 4.86 billion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter climbed 10.3% to 165 million yen compared to 150 million yen and earnings per share increased to 28.23 yen from 25.59 yen a year earlier.

NPC Incorporated gained 1.8% to 286 yen after the photovoltaic manufacturing equipment maker reported revenue in the year ending in August surged 246.5% to 15.70 billion yen from 4.53 billion yen a year ago period.

Net in the year swung to profit 124 million yen compared to a loss of 2.28 billion yen and earnings per share swung to 5.65 yen from a loss of 103.51 yen a year earlier.

Toho Co Ltd climbed 4% to 2,514 yen after the after the movie distributor lifted revenue forecast for the year to jump to 5.3% to 197 billion from 187 billion yen a year ago and net profit to increase 26% to 19.8 billion yen from 15.7 billion yen.

Toshiba Corp fell 0.4% to 473.50 yen after the electronic products maker plans to discontinue production of its e-book readers before the end of this year, 18 months after the company launched its e-book business.