Japan saw a current account surplus of 900.8 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said in a preliminary report on Monday - up 452.8 percent on year.

That came in below analyst expectations for a surplus of 1.011 trillion yen following the 1.103 trillion yen surplus in November.

The trade balance showed a surplus of 631.2 billion yen - below expectations for a surplus of 669.4 billion yen after the 490.6 billion yen surplus in the previous month.

Seasonally adjusted, the current account surplus was 1.100.5 trillion yen - again missing forecasts for a 1.250 trillion yen surplus after the 1.304 trillion yen surplus a month earlier.