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Oil Exports Help US Narrow Trade Gap

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The US trade gap narrowed in October, as rising sales of oil pushed US exports to a record high, the US Commerce Department has said.

The trade deficit shrank to $40.6bn (£24.8bn) from $43bn in September, a drop of 5.4%.

Exports rose 1.8%, while petroleum exports rose 9.3%. The increase broke three months of falling exports.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has said in a report that the economy is growing at a “modest to moderate rate”.

Imports rose by just 0.4% while oil imports were 1.5% higher.

The figures showed US exports to China hit a record high as its trade gap with the Asian power narrowed.

Exports to Canada and Mexico also reached a new high, but imports from the European Union increased and the US’s trade deficit with the EU hit a record.

Analysts say the smaller trade deficit, which was broadly in line with expectations, would help the US economic recovery.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza

@alfonso_forex

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