Australia Trade Surplus Returns in June as Iron Ore, Coal and LNG Exports Surge 
Gold Price Hits Seven-Week High as Fed Rate Hike Bets Fade and Hormuz Deal Hopes Grow 
Asian Currencies Hold Steady as US Dollar Nears Seven-Week Low Ahead of Key Jobs Data 
Philippine GDP Growth Slows to 2.3% in Q2 
Trump Unveils $3 Billion U.S. Critical Minerals Push 
Asian Stocks Cautious Ahead of US Jobs Data as Oil Rises 
Gold Prices Steady as Hormuz Tensions Fuel Fed Rate Concerns 
There is more good news from China on better than expected exports for December, showing that the devaluation of the CNY (aka Chinese Yuan) is working. China's exports grew in CNY terms but fell marginally -1.8 percent in dollar terms, but this was far better than the -8 percent expected. This is hardly great news but despite this China managed to increase its share of global trade and the news has helped oil prices bounce.
According to China's General Administration of Customs full year exports fell -1.8 percent and its imports fell -14.1 percent, but its trade surplus surged to $594.5 billion from $382 billion in 2014.
"China continues to diverge from the Fed with its extraordinary monetary easing and the impact takes time. Meanwhile, Eurozone industrial production disappointingly decreased by -0.7 percent month-over-month in November with a 1.1 percent year-over-year increase", says Voya Global Perspective.
