Talking Points:
- Visible Trade Balance came at -£9.92B in Dec, above the -£10.4b expected
- Total Trade Balance printed -£2.71B in Dec, above expectations
- British Pound little changed versus other majors
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The British Pound was little changed versus other major currencies (at the time this report was written) after today’s UK trade balance data printed better than forecasted numbers. Visible trade balance, which does not record intangibles like services (reporting only on physical goods) came at -£9.92B in December, above the -£10.4B expected by economists, with a prior revised reading of -£11.5B. Total trade balance printed -£2.71B versus -£3.0B expected, with a revised -£4.03B prior figure. The non EU trade balance, which is a gauge of Britain's trade with countries outside of Europe, came at -£2.36B versus the -£2.5B expected, with a revised prior reading of -£3.54B. The figures indicate that Britain’s trade deficit widened in December, but the figures came better than anticipated.
Looking into the report, the Office for National Statistics said that the UK’s annual trade deficit reached £34.7B in 2015, widening £0.3B from 2014. The widening was partially offset by an increase in the services surplus, which rose by £1.5B to £90B. Furthermore, the office commented that between November 2015 and December 2015, the trade in goods narrowing was mainly the result of a fall in the import of goods of £1.7B due to a fall in imports of unspecified goods.
As was mentioned today by DailyFX Currency Strategist Ilya Spivak, risk trends remain in the driver’s seat in today’s market; the UK’s trade balance figures did little to sway market sentiment from the major theme at the moment, and the British Pound was little changed versus other major currencies.