TRADE

Steep Fall Seen in Japan’s Surplus: The nation’s current account surplus plunged 52% in October, its biggest drop in nearly five years, because of a flood of imports and sluggish exports, the government said. The drop, much steeper than many analysts had forecast, suggests the surplus had finally begun a long-term decline that could ease trade tensions with other countries and prompt a further weakening of the yen, economists said. Structural changes in Japan’s economy mean that declines in the current account surplus “will continue for the time being,” economist Masaru Takagi said. The surplus on the current account, the broadest measure of Japan’s trade in goods and services, shrank to $4.31 billion in October from $8.95 billion a year earlier. This compared with a $10.60-billion surplus in September.