US: Trade balance and ISM non-manufacturing in focus – Nomura

According to advance data by the Census Bureau, the US goods trade gap widened slightly to $69.7bn in November from October’s $68.1bn, points out the research team at Nomura.

Key Quotes

“While the goods trade gap widened in November, we expect the service trade balance to have posted a trendlike surplus. Altogether, we forecast a nominal trade deficit of $49.3bn for November (Consensus: $50.0bn deficit).”

“ISM non-manufacturing: We expect elevated momentum to continue in the near term and forecast 57.0 for the December ISM non-manufacturing survey topline index (Consensus: 57.6). Some of the decline in past months was driven by moderation in the supplier deliveries index, reflecting recovering supply chains following disruptions from the recent hurricanes. Details of this survey and other incoming data suggest that the momentum will likely continue in the near term.”