Japan October Trade Surplus Up 66.1 Pct.

The surplus grew to 1.019 trillion yen ($9.27 billion), marking the third consecutive monthly increase, the ministry said. Exports remained robust during the period despite a stronger yen, which makes Japanese products more expensive abroad.

The result was in line with an increase of 66.7 percent forecast by economists polled by Dow Jones and Nikkei.

Overall exports gained 13.9 percent to a record 7.516 trillion yen ($68.43 billion) despite a decline in exports to the U.S. Shipments to China and other Asian nations rose to records driven by automobiles, semiconductors and telecommunication devices.

Japan's trade surplus with the U.S. dropped 8.5 percent from a year earlier to 717.3 billion yen ($6.53 billion). Exports to the nation with the world's largest economy decreased 1.5 percent to 1.498 trillion yen ($13.64 billion).

The drop was party due to a slowing of a U.S. economy still struggling with the fallout from defaults on risky housing loans, officials said. The higher yen also canceled a part of repatriated export profits. The average value of the dollar for the month was 116.00 yen, 1.7 percent lower than 117.99 yen in October last year.

In contrast, exports to Asian nations rose 12.9 percent to an all-time high of 3.542 trillion yen ($32.25 billion), raising the regional trade surplus 59.5 percent to 747.3 billion yen ($6.8 billion).

Shipments to China rose 19.2 percent to 1.172 trillion yen ($10.67 billion), a record high. The trade deficit with China narrowed 36.0 percent to 175.1 billion yen ($1.59 billion).