Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$1.709 billion in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.
That was well above forecasts for a surplus of A$1.200 billion following the downwardly revised surplus of A$1.343 billion in November. The original November read was for a surplus of A$1.38 billion.
Exports climbed 2.0 percent on month to A$27.792 billion, up from A$27.171 billion in the previous month.
Non-monetary gold surged 31 percent or A4578 million, while rural goods added A132 million. Non-rural goods climbed 1 percent or A$174 million, and services credits shed 1 percent or A$23 million.
Imports added 1.0 percent on month to A$26.082 billion, up from A$25.829 billion a month earlier.
Goods and services debits rose 1 percent or A$253 million to A$26.082 billion. Intermediate and other merchandise goods jumped 4 percent or A$346 million, while consumption goods climbed 3 percent or A$151 million. Non-monetary gold plummeted 27 percent or A$185 million and capital goods lost 2 percent or A$106 million. Services debits added 1 percent or A$47 million.
Also on Thursday, the ABS said that the total number of building approvals in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent on month in December, standing at 11,443. That missed forecasts for an increase of 2.0 percent following the upwardly revised 10.1 percent increase in November.
On a yearly basis, approvals plummeted 24.5 percent - also missing expectations for a 22.1 percent decline following the upwardly revised 17.5 percent contraction in the previous month.
The estimate for private sector houses rose 0.2 percent in December following a rise of 5.4 percent in the previous month. The estimate for private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 2.0 percent following a rise of 21.5 percent a month earlier.
The estimate of the value of total building approved rose 1.9 percent in December following a fall of 0.5 percent in November. The value of residential building rose 1.0 percent and the value of non-residential building rose 3.3 percent in December.
Upon the release of the data, the Australian dollar ticked up against major rivals, trading near 1.2293 against the euro, 1.0726 versus the U.S. dollar, 1.2872 against the NZ dollar and 81.72 versus the yen.
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