EZ Trade Balance & Current Surplus Widens, Euro Strengthens Against Counterparts - 17.8.2012

The non-seasonally adjusted Current Account of the euro zone recorded a surplus of €15.7 billion in June compared to revised €3.2 billion deficit in May according to ECB. Current Account surplus reflects surpluses in Goods (€14.2B), Services (€6.9B) and Income (€2.3B) however partly reduced by deficit in current transfers (€7.7B). Seasonally adjusted Current Account surplus surprisingly widened to €12.7 billion in June from €10.9 billion in May. The non- seasonally adjusted Trade Balance surplus in the EZ widened to €14.9 billion in June from a revised €7.1 billion surplus in May according to the Eurostat. The EZ exports increased by 2.15% in June or rose to €161.5 billion while imports decreased by 2.91% to €146.6 billion in June. The Euro strengthened against its counterparts after the trade data release, it rose against the greenback to 1.2380 retesting weekly highs.