Trade balance for November comes in at: AUD -628m

... a huge miss and a surprise deficit

  • expected surplus of AUD 550m
  • October surplus was -320mln, revised much lower from initially reported at +105m AUD

November exports little changed m/m, but imports +1% m/m

This deficit will weigh on the GDP figures.

This is a bad result, if there is a bright spot its that exports on the month were not changed much (though they have been expected to rise ... nope) and capital goods imports were up (augurs well for capex numbers).

But the headline (and revisions, see below for more) ..... yuck .....

ps. the Australian Bureau of Statistics have also revised earlier data, resulting in the reported surplus in the four months to October 2017 of 762m AUD now turning around to a deficit (of just 3m AUD ... but still ... not good)