US stocks rally as trade deficit narrows to 3 year low
Wall Street has made gains as the US trade deficit falls to its lowest level in three years.
Wall Street has made gains as the US trade deficit falls to its lowest level in three years.
The US stock exchange has enjoyed a rally this afternoon (February 8th), as the national trade deficit has shrunk to a three-year nadir.
According to the Commerce Department, the US trade gap with the rest of the international marketplace fell to $38.5 billion (£24.3 billion) in December 2012, with record overseas demand for petroleum pushing up exports.
Crude oil imports slumped to their lowest level since 1997, however, over the course of the full 12-month period.
The data indicates the world's largest economy was stronger in the fourth quarter of the year than first thought and could lead to a revision of the 0.1 per cent annualised contraction in gross domestic product anticipated during the quarter, which was initially calculated before these figures were available.
At 16:40 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.3 per cent to 13986.1 points, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose by 0.8 per cent to 3192.6 points.
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