Australia: January trade surplus fell short of market expectations – TDS

Analysts at TDS note that the Australian trade surplus for January came at +A$1.3b which was well short of market expectations of +A$3.8b.

Key Quotes

“Exports unexpectedly fell +3% while imports (mainly oil but some consumer gods) rose +4%.  Oil and bulk commodity price dynamics for Feb point to a rebound in the trade surplus closer to $A2.3b.”

“Jan building approvals +1.8%/mth (mkt: -0.5%, TD: +0.5%) a tepid rebound from the revised drop of –2.5%.”