Latest data released by Destatis - 9 January 2019
- Prior €18.3 billion; revised to €18.9 billion
- Current account balance €21.4 billion vs €24.8 billion expected
- Prior €15.9 billion
- Exports -0.4% vs -0.5% m/m expected
- Prior +0.7%; revised to +0.9%
- Imports -1.6% vs 0.0% m/m expected
- Prior +1.3%; revised to +0.8%
Slight delay in the release by the source. The increase in trade balance is mainly due to imports declining more than exports on the month but the fact that exports are seen declining isn't a good sign for the German economy in Q4, despite the positive revision to the October figure.
This will do little to lift the doom and gloom backdrop put in place following the weak November factory orders and industrial production data earlier this week.