Here are the key factors to keep in mind today for Gold trades:
- New Zealand Card Spending: Retail Card spending in New Zealand was reported at an increase of 0.8% March monthly which matched the 0.8% increase expected by economists. Forex traders should compare this to February’s increase of 1.1%. Card spending surged 1.3% in March which compares to the 0.4% increase reported in February.
- Japanese Machine Orders: Economists expected a contraction of 2.2% in February monthly and an annualized increase of 4.3%. Forex traders can compare this to the 1.7% contraction reported in January and to the annualized increase of 1.9%. The released data during the Asian trading session beat expectations as machine orders contracted by 0.4% monthly and posted an annualized increase of 5.9%.
- Japanese Domestic Corporate Goods Index: Some signs of inflation were evident in today’s Domestic Corporate Goods Index for the month of March. The Domestic Corporate Goods Index rose 0.3% monthly and 0.7% annualized. Economists expected a monthly contraction of 0.1% and an annualized increase of only 0.4%. Forex traders can compare this to February’s downward revised contraction of 0.1% and downward revised increase of 0.4%.
- Australian Credit Card Purchases/Balances: Australian credit card purchases rose to A$22.1 billion in February while Australian credit card balances rose to $51.1 billion. This represents a small increase of January’s credit card purchases worth A$21.5 billion and credit card balances worth A$50.1 billion.
- Chinese Trade Surplus: The biggest economic report released today came out of China during the Asian trading session; the Chinese trade surplus. In February Chinese data surprised forex traders with a trade surplus of $60.62 billion. Annualized exports sky rocketed by 48.3% in February while imports contracted by 20.5%. This combination led to the big positive surprise in the trade surplus. For March economists expected a trade surplus of $40.20 billion. Exports were expected to rise by 10.0% annualized while imports were expected to decrease by 10.0%. Once again Chinese trade data surprise financial markets, this time to the downside. The Chinese trade surplus was reported at only $3.08 billion for March. The biggest disappointment came from annualized exports which plunged unexpectedly by 15.0%. This is a rather troubling sign for the health of the global economy. Annualized imports in March dropped by 12.7% which is another bearish global indicator.
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