Japan posted a current account surplus of 2.380 trillion yen in August, the Ministry of Finance said, cited by rttnews - up 20.8 percent on year.

The headline figure exceeded expectations for a surplus of 2.223 trillion yen and was up from 2.320 trillion yen in July.

The trade surplus came in at 318.7 billion yen, beating forecasts for 264.9 billion yen and down from 566.6 billion yen in the previous month.

Exports climbed 16.3 percent on year to 6.165 trillion yen - but down from 6.401 trillion yen in the previous month.

Imports jumped an annual 15.1 percent to 5.847 trillion yen - up from 5.834 trillion yen a month earlier.