Forex Flash: Key Asian numbers Chinese March Trade deficit - BTMU

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Derek Halpenny, European Head of Global Markets Research at the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ notes that the key data from Asia today was the trade figures from China which revealed a USD 0.88bn deficit in March with exports up 10.0% from a year earlier and imports up 14.1%.

He writes, “Our GMR colleagues in Hong Kong do not believe the March data is an accurate reflection of the underlying trade story and expect surpluses to re-emerge going forward. Still exports to the US and Europe fell for the first time since November which is consistent with evidence of a slowdown in the US and still weak conditions in Europe. A 93% surge in exports to Hong Kong has also led to concerns over the general quality of the trade data from China. We continue to expect the USD/CNY rate to grind slowly lower. Our current twelve-month forecast is 6.0200.”