A few minutes ago we got comments from Japanese finance minister Aso, here

And earlier, the Reuters Tankan

And now, here's the Trade balance for March, from the Ministry of Finance

Y 614.7bn

  • expected Y 608.0bn, prior was Y 813.5bn

Trade balance (adjusted): Y 172.2bn

  • expected Y172.0 bn, prior was Y 680.3bn

Exports for March y/y: 12.0% big BEAT

  • expected 6.2%, prior was 11.3%
  • fastest rise in exports since January of 2015
  • exports to US +3.5% y/y
  • to China +16.4% y/y
  • to Asia +16.3% y/y
  • to EU +1.4% y/y

Imports for March y/y: 15.8% and another big BEAT

  • expected 10.2%, prior was 1.2%

The improvement in Japanese exports continued in March.