Mumbai, July 17 -- Japan posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of 153.1 billion yen in June, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.

That followed the downwardly revised 638.6 billion yen deficit in May (originally a 637.6 billion yen shortfall).

Exports were down 0.5 percent on year, missing forecasts for a gain of 0.5 percent after sinking 1.7 percent in the previous month.

Imports rose an annual 0.2 percent versus expectations for a drop of 1.6 percent after losing 7.7 percent a month earlier.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Capital Market....