Economic Indicators

Australia trade balance up less than expected in Oct, exports muted

2023.12.06 20:23


© Reuters.

Investing.com–Australia’s trade balance grew less than expected in October as exports picked up only slightly from sharp declines in recent months, while a drop in imports raised some concerns over shrinking domestic demand.

The country’s grew to A$7.13 billion from A$6.79 billion in the prior month, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Thursday. The reading was lower than expectations for a surplus of A$7.5 billion.

The trade surplus picked up slightly after tumbling to an over two-year low in the prior month, with the main source of pressure coming from weakening commodity exports.

Australian grew 0.4% month-on-month (m-o-m) to A$45.55 billion in October, recovering slightly after a sharp tumble in the third quarter. Commodity exports- particularly metals and metal ores- remained languid amid weak demand in China, while coal and LNG exports to Asian and European countries also remained weak amid unusually warm weather. 

Thursday’s reading comes as weakening economic conditions in China largely dented commodity exports to the mainland. China is Australia’s biggest export market for iron ore and other industrial metals, as well as a slew of consumer goods. 

from China is due later in the day, and is expected to show some improvement in the country’s in November.

Australian exports shrank through the third quarter, recent data showed, a trend which weighed on economic growth through the quarter. Data released on Wednesday showed Australia’s economy grew at its during the third quarter. 

fell 1.9% m-o-m to A$38.42 billion in October, with a drop in imports of discretionary goods suggesting that consumer spending was cooling. Imports of consumption goods fell 0.5% m-o-m, having largely stagnated over the past three months. 

Imports of capital goods shrank 11.2% m-o-m, as local businesses also appeared to be cutting back spending on industrial equipment and machinery. 

The drop in imports signaled that Australian consumer and capital spending was cooling steadily amid pressure from high interest rates and inflation. The trend is likely to factor into lower inflation over the coming months, which could in turn elicit a less hawkish stance from the Reserve Bank.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 98,575.41 0.45%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,472.72 0.84%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 0.999364 0.24%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.28 1.98%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 705.12 1.01%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 197.79 0.47%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.331079 2.54%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.05%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,468.48 0.42%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.911483 3.90%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.256562 0.75%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 40.52 1.01%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 24.62 1.13%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 5.96 3.07%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 4,128.55 0.22%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000023 2.36%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 4.49 3.69%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 98,161.30 0.27%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.314384 2.57%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.383089 3.39%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 7.47 1.89%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,470.94 0.81%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 463.37 2.76%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 26.82 10.89%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.53 0.75%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 13.90 5.20%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 108.73 1.55%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 5.74 15.21%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000019 3.32%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,668.12 0.17%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 5.48 3.00%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.09%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 369.66 2.48%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.01 0.39%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 9.66 2.46%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.25 0.15%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.516395 2.70%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.158587 5.29%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.051826 1.66%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 1.24 0.40%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 27.34 3.49%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.54 5.53%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 511.80 1.12%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.79 0.42%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.93 1.23%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 194.10 0.30%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.35 4.38%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.18%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.799717 4.03%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.30 3.29%