The UK had hoped to increase trade with emerging market nations to make up for the weakness in Europe, but trade with China fell by £100 million while trade with Germany fell by £500 million. The slightly good news is the UK imports fell by about -2.5% to £33.9 billion, led by slowdowns in purchases of oil, intermediate goods, and precious stones.
The trade deficit with the European Union grew to £4.9 billion, the largest ever since records began being kept in 1998. The trade gap with non-EU nations grew to £5.2 billion.
The report hasn’t dented the enthusiasm in European and Asian equity markets, while US futures markets are solidly higher as well this morning.
Paul Ausick
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