For the third day in a row this week, the economic calendar has no important economic data from the United States. Today’s most important data were China's trade balance figures, which continued to widen in October, although figures were below expectations.
Chinese exports in October rose by 6.9% on a yearly basis, while imports rose by 17.2%, with China's trade balance surging by $38.2 billion in the month of October. On the other hand, the US trade deficit with China narrowed slightly in October but remains high.
China's trade surplus with the United States fell to $26.6 billion in October from $28.1 billion in September. In the first 10 months of 2017, China's trade surplus with the United States reached $223 billion.
Trump's visit to China is expected to find ways to reduce the US trade deficit, which has grown in recent years. The US president's visit to Beijing will last three days. Trump launched a fierce attack on China over the trade deficit during his campaign in 2016, but he's subdued his rhetoric since taking office early this year.
The visit comes after the Chinese president began his second term less than two weeks ago. Trump wants to further open Chinese markets to US products and US companies. China is considered the largest trading partner of the United States, while the United States is China's second largest trading partner, with trade between the two countries rising to $519.6 billion in 2016 from $2.5 billion in 1979. During the first three quarters of 2017 trade increased by 13.7% to reach $422.6 billion so far.
US crude oil inventories are also released today, with expectations of a drop of 2.5 million barrels, as oil prices are currently stable at $56.75. Supporting further continuation of the rally, currently we can notice a bearish flag pattern on the 1-hour timeframe which may push prices towards $58 a barrel.
At 8:00 pm GMT, the New Zealand interest rate decision is expected to be a stabilization at 1.75%, as inflation stabilizes near the midpoint of the target range. After an hour, there will be a press conference with the interim governor Grant Spencer, who will speak on the reasons behind the decision.
