July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's exports rose in June for a third month as companies such as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Kenwood Corp. shipped more electronics goods overseas. Exports rose 1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and imports rose 2 percent, the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo. The trade surplus shrank 3.8 percent to 730 billion yen ($6.15 billion.) The trade report is another sign that the world's second- largest economy may dodge a fourth recession in 12 years. Rising imports reflect purchases of machinery and equipment by Japanese manufacturers preparing for a pickup in orders from the U.S., Japan's biggest overseas market, economists said. ``The gain in imports shows that there is more demand for machinery at home,'' said Ayako Mitsui, an economist at UBS Warburg (Japan) Ltd. ``Export growth will accelerate in the second half of the year along with the U.S. economy.''
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.6 percent to 9671.00 at the 3 p.m. close of trading in Tokyo. The broader Topix Index rose 0.4 percent to 945.27. Shares of Matsushita Electric Industrial rose 1.3 percent. ``We are expecting the economy to improve in the latter half of this year and we are seeing improving earnings results from companies'' in general, Toyota Motor Corp. President Fujio Cho said at a mid-year press conference in Tokyo yesterday. An index measuring how the U.S. economy is likely to perform over the next three to six months rose for the third straight month in June, the New York-based Conference Board said this week, suggesting that growth in the world's biggest economy may accelerate later this year.
Less Pessimism
Large Japanese manufacturers were the least pessimistic in more than two years, the central bank's quarterly Tankan survey showed this month. Industrial production in May had its biggest gain in a year, and machinery orders rose 6.5 percent, the biggest increase in four months. Matsushita Electric, the world's biggest consumer-electronics maker, said it made a profit at its Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. unit after overseas handset sales tripled in the quarter ended June 30. The company says it will probably post another profit in the July-to-September quarter. Kenwood, a maker of audio equipment and car navigation systems, said it expects sales to rise in the second half of the year. From a year earlier exports were unchanged, failing to grow for the first time in 15 months. Imports rose 11.6 percent, led by oil products and machinery, and the trade surplus shrank 31 percent to 846 billion yen, compared with economists' expectations of a 1.03 trillion yen surplus.
SARS
Imports from Asia jumped 13.7 percent in June from a year earlier after severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed more than 800 people worldwide, disrupted manufacturing in April and May. U.S. mobile-phone maker Motorola Inc., Japan's biggest liquid crystal display maker Sharp Corp. and other companies with factories in China were forced to shutter factories and delay business plans in April and May because of SARS. For the six months ended in June, the trade surplus fell 10 percent to 4.38 trillion yen from the same period a year earlier, the first time the surplus shrank since the second half of 2001. Imports rose faster than exports as the yen rose 9.6 percent to an average 118.82 to the dollar during the period from a year earlier. The stronger yen makes overseas goods less expensive for Japanese companies//www.bloomberg.com