Latest data released by ONS - 10 January 2018

  • Prior -£10.78 bn; revised to -£11.68 bn
  • Trade balance non-EU -£4.7 bn vs -£2.6 bn expected
  • Total trade balance -£2.8 bn vs -£1.5 bn expected

Larger deficit than expected on all fronts, prior data has also been revised to reflect a larger deficit for the month of October as well.

Some highlights by the ONS:

  • The narrowing of the trade in goods deficit was due to a 5.3% (£2.3 billion) increase in exports to non-EU countries, partially offset by increases in imports, in the three months to November 2017
  • A 1.9% increase in goods export volumes had a larger impact on the narrowing of the trade in goods deficit, in comparison with prices, in the three months to November 2017
  • The downward revision to goods exports by £1.4 billion in October 2017 was mainly due to downward revisions to unspecified goods (including non-monetary gold) and fuels

Full report can be found here.

Cable now at 1.3524 and EUR/GBP now at 0.8833. Not much changes in GBP pairs, just a little higher but ranges are still subdued on the day.