Japan's current account balance remained in the black for a third straight month in September.
The unadjusted current account surplus rose to 963 billion yen from a surplus of 287.1 billion yen in August, as income from investments overseas bolstered the balance of payments. That was above expectations for a 534.2 billion yen surplus in a Reuters poll.
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"Japan booked a current account surplus again in September, but the base of the surplus is likely to remain narrow despite some improvement," Harumi Taguchi, principal economist at IHS Global Insight said in a note.
Japan's current account surplus was up 61.9 percent on year in September, while the surplus in the primary income component, or income balance, was up 24.5 percent on year.