Australia trade balance for October: AUD 7456m surplus (expected surplus AUD 5800m)

Australia trade balance for October a big beat at AUD 7.456bn surplus

• expected surplus AUD 5800m

• prior surplus AUD 5630m

Exports +5% m/m for a better than expected rise.

• expected +4%, prior +4%

Import +1% m/m ... and here is the rub ... the lower imports figure help the trade balance but suggests domestic demand is not as strong as perhaps its thought to be. A complicating factor is industrial tensions at ports that may have weighed.

• expected +4%, prior -6%

more to come