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Japan recorded a current account surplus for the seventh consecutive month in August, driven mainly by lower prices of energy imports such as crude oil and natural gas. Preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance showed a surplus of 3.77 trillion yen (about $25 billion). The current account, a key indicator of a nation's trade and investment flows with the rest of the world, remained in positive territory but fell 4.8% from a year earlier, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK World. The decline was largely attributed to a drop in the primary income surplus, reflecting lower dividends from overseas subsidiaries of Japanese financial and automotive companies compared with last year.

Oil prices slipped nearly 1% on Monday after Iraq’s Kurdistan region resumed crude oil exports, and as OPEC+ plans another oil output hike in November. Brent crude futures fell 63 cents, or 0.90%, to $69.50 a barrel, after settling at their highest level since July 31 on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $65.07 a barrel, down 65 cents, or 0.99%, giving back most of Friday’s gains. Both Brent and WTI rose more than 4% last week, marking their biggest weekly gains since June.