According to data released by the Ministry of Finance, Japanese exports declined for the 10th consecutive month during September. Japan’s exports fell by 5.2% YoY in the previous month, higher than economists’ expectations which were for a 4.0% decline. In terms of volume, exports shrank by 2.3% YoY in September, falling for the second straight month.

In the face of the prolonged trade war between the US and China, Japan’s export-oriented economy has been suffering over continued weakness in trade with China. Late last week, the government of Japan downgraded its economic outlook for the third time this year, after doing the same in March and May previously.

Moreover, the Cabinet Office has downgraded its forecast for Japan’s factory output in October, for the first time since five months. Declining car exports to the US have exerted a downward pressure on Japan’s factory activity.

Repeated weak economic data releases have raised expectations among policymakers for additional fiscal stimulus measures by the Bank of Japan. The BOJ’s next monetary policy is scheduled for October 30-31. During the last meeting, BOJ officials had held the monetary policy steady but had signaled that they would reconsider their decision in October’s meeting.

On the release of this news, the Japanese yen weakened slightly against the US dollar, but has since steadied itself. At the time of writing, USD/JPY is trading around 108.52