Australia: Trade boom – TDS

Annette Beacher, Chief Asia-Pacific Macro Strategist at TD Securities, points out that the Australian Oct trade surplus narrowed to +$A2.3b due to a larger pop in imports than expected (+3.2%/m), while exports rose by +1.3%/m, shared between goods and services.

Key Quotes

“China’s trade report for October already told us it was a record month for exports to Australia and this was confirmed. The Nov Chinese trade report is released on Dec 8. Australia’s trade surplus with Japan widened to $A3.5b in October, the widest in a decade, as the bulk of Australia’s LNG is committed to Japan.”

“The AUD is currently being weighed down by rising rate cut expectations after yesterday’s soft Q3 GDP report (and no upside from retail sales today).”