Uk trade data just out

  • prev -9.387bln revised down from -8.561bln

Revision negating the header

  • non-eu -£1.57bln vs -2.8bln exp vs -2.399 prev revised down from -2.094bln
  • trade balance -£393m vs -2.15bln exp vs -1.834 bln prev revised down from -1.202bln

Separately data for construction output May

  • sa mm -1.3% vs +0.8% exp vs -0.5% prev rev up from -0.8%
  • sa yy +1.3% vs +3.1% exp vs +1.8% prev rev up from +1.5%

GBPUSD still looking comfortable around 1.5450 EURGBP treading water at 0.7195

ONS says on the trade data

The deficit of trade in goods and services for May 2015 was £0.4 billion, narrowing by £1.4 billion from £1.8 billion when compared with April 2015. The trade position reflects exports minus imports. The deficit is the smallest since June 2013 and this narrowing is a result of imports decreasing by £1.4 billion to £43.4 billion, as exports were unchanged at £43.0 billion in May 2015.

The monthly changes were attributed to trade in goods as the deficit narrowed by £1.4 billion to £8.0 billion, compared with the surplus on services which increased by £0.1 billion to £7.6 billion in May 2015.

In detail, exports of goods were £24.6 billion in May 2015, unchanged from April 2015, however there were offsetting movements in different commodities. Exports of fuels (specifically oil) increased by £0.5 billion and unspecified goods increased by £0.4 billion, whereas exports of chemicals decreased by £0.3 billion, miscellaneous manufactures (which includes jewellery and works of art) decreased by £0.4 billion and material manufactures decreased by £0.2 billion.

Imports of goods decreased by £1.4 billion in May 2015 to £32.6 billion, the lowest level of imports since April 2011. Imports decreased for all of the main commodity groups including a £0.5 billion decrease in imports of ships and a £0.4 billion decrease attributed to material manufactures.

In May 2015, the trade in goods deficit with the EU narrowed by £0.6 billion to £6.4 billion as imports decreased. The trade in goods deficit with countries outside the EU narrowed £0.8 billion to £1.6 billion, the smallest deficit since June 2013, again attributed to a decrease in imports

Full release here