The numbers: The trade deficit in goods narrowed 3.7% to $64.8 billion in May, according to the government’s advanced report released Wednesday. This was well below the $69.2 billion estimate of economists polled by MarketWatch and the second decline in a row.
The government’s advanced report on wholesale inventories showed a 0.5% gain in May. Advanced retail inventories rose 0.4%
The trade gap in goods excludes services. The advance report is seen as an accurate signal of trade patterns because the service sector surplus rarely changes much from month to month.
What happened: Both imports and exports rose in May but exports rose at a faster pace. The narrowing of the deficit in goods points to a smaller overall trade deficit in May. The government will release overall trade numbers for May next week.
Big picture: Despite the improvement in the deficit in May, the U.S. is on trade to post another high deficit in 2018. The narrowing of the trade deficit in May is likely to give a boost to gross domestic product in the second quarter.
Market reaction: U.S. stocks
DJIA, +0.12%
were set to open higher after President Donald Trump eased his approach to Chinese trade and investments.
Source : MTV
