Canada February trade balance +1.39B vs +0.80B expected

• Prior was +0.50B
• Exports $66.62B vs $62.29B prior
• Imports $65.23B vs $61.79B prior
• Canada’s trade surplus with the United States widened slightly from $8.8 billion in January to $9.1 billion in February.

This is a good number and USD/CAD is at the lows of the day, down 35 pips to 1.3491. The surge in both imports and exports is a good sign for economic activity. The 5.8% rise in exports was the most since Aug 2023 and got a big boost from gold sales, which accounted for half the surplus.

On the imports side, imports of electronic and electrical equipment and parts increased 9.7%
to a record $7.6 billion in February. Imports of computers and computer
peripherals (+41.4%), which had been trending downward since the spring
of 2022, were mostly responsible for the growth in February 2024. Could that be chips and AI?

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.