Australia trade balance for December AUD + 3681m (vs. expected AUD +2225m)

Trade balance data is a strong surplus, ahead of expectations

• expected AUD +2225m
• prior AUD +2256m, revised from AUD +1925m

But … the focus is on retail sales and they are ugly indeed (separate post) :

• Australia Retail sales for December: -0.4% m/m (vs. expected 0.0%)

More … while the surplus is a beat these details are not encouraging:

• exports -2% m/m
• imports -6% m/m

Such a slide in impost could well be construed as a weak sign for the economy … by me if no-one else ;-)