Iranian Revolution

Japan's trade deficit widened sharply in April, as export growth was tepid while imports surged, according to Finance Ministry data released Wednesday. The trade gap grew to 880 billion yen ($8.6 billion) from March's Û364 billion deficit, as exports rose just 3.8% from a year earlier, well below Dow Jones Newswires and Reuters forecasts for a gain of 5% and 5.9%, respectively. Dow Jones had tipped the deficit at Û666.75 billion, while the Reuters survey of economists had forecast a Û621.1 billion shortfall in the trade account. Imports surged 9.4%, well above a 6.7% projected rise from the Reuters poll. The results marked the 10th monthly trade deficit in a row, which Reuters said was the longest such run since 1979-1980, when oil prices spiked amid the Iranian revolution. Exports to China managed to creep 0.3% higher, but shipments to the U.S. spiked 14.8%. European Union-bound exports fell 3.5%. The yen weakened slightly after the data, as the dollar rose to Û102.43 from Û102.35 jus...

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