Japanese economic data lift recovery hopes

Hopes mounted Monday that Japan's economy is on the mend after its worst
recession in decades as the current account surplus showed the first rise in
16 months and machinery orders rebounded. The surplus in the current
account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, more than
doubled in size in June to 1.15 trillion yen ( 11.8 billion dollars) from
471.6 billion yen a year earlier, the government said. The figure easily
beat market expectations for an increase of about 40 percent. The trade
surplus alone rose more than two-fold to 602.2 billion yen from 249.0
billion a year earlier. Exports increased 14.6 percent in June from the
previous month, narrowing their year-on-year decline to 37 percent, after a
fall of 42.2 percent in May, the data showed. Japan's heavy dependence on
foreign demand to drive its economy left it highly vulnerable to the global
economic slowdown, which crushed demand for its key exports such as cars,
high- tech goods and machinery.