Eurozone’s trade surplus unexpectedly narrows for the third straight month in July

Eurozone’s trade surplus unexpectedly narrowed for the third straight month in July another warning sign that economic growth may be easing further after a second-quarter slowdown.

The seasonally adjusted trade surplus shrank to EUR 20.0 billion in July from EUR 23.8 billion in June. Meanwhile, economists had expected the surplus to grow to EUR 29.6 billion, data released by Eurostat showed Thursday.

Further, exports fell 1.1 percent month-over-month in July, while imports climbed by 1.4 percent. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the trade surplus declined to EUR 25.3 billion in July from EUR 31.1 billion in the corresponding month last year. Both exports and imports plunged by 10.0 percent and 8.0 percent annually in July.

Moreover, over the first seven months of 2016, German exports were unchanged, while French and Italian exports declined by 2 percent and 1 percent respectively. On a monthly basis, there was a sharp decline for Germany, while French and Italian shipments recorded a small recovery.

Meanwhile, there was no significant market reaction with EUR/USD trading in a tight range just below 1.1250.