Japan's foreign trade growth under expectations

According to the Japanese Ministry of Finance data, there was strong growth in exports and imports in July, but the said growth fell short of market expectations.

Compared to the same month of the previous year, Japan's exports increased by 37 percent and imports by 28.5 percent in July. However, economists had expected a 39 percent increase in exports and a 35.1 percent increase in imports. Exports increased by 48.6 percent in June.

In July, where Japan's exports to the USA increased by 26.8 percent, exports to Europe increased by 46.1 percent and exports to China by 18.9 percent.

Japan's foreign trade surplus, on the other hand, managed to exceed analyst expectations. The trade surplus reached 441 billion yen in July, which is expected to yield a surplus of 202.3 billion yen. The trade surplus stood at 382.2 billion yen in June.

Machine orders also failed to meet expectations
Core machinery orders fell 1.5 percent month on month in June, according to data from the Japan Cabinet Office. However, the decline was below market expectations of 2.9 percent.

Core machinery orders increased by 4.6 percent in the April-June period.

Core machinery orders are expected to grow 11 percent in the July-September period, according to the Cabinet Office's survey of manufacturers.

Core machinery orders in June grew by 18.6 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Economists had expected a 15.8 percent increase.