The Day at a Glance | June 27 2023

The Top

*Mexico logged a smaller than expected trade deficit in May. 

*Vladimir Putin praised Russian troops for putting an end to a riot after Prigozhin´s arrival in Belarus. 

*China will take measures to boost demand and accelerate its transition to clean energy: Li Qiang, Prime Minister of China. 

*The ECB is facing a new phase of persistent inflation: Christine Lagarde. 

*Capital goods orders in the US unexpectedly increased in May. 

*This Tuesday, the Conference Board will release May´s Consumer Confidence Index, which, according to consensus expectations, set at 104.0 points (102.3 prev.). 

Economic environment

Mexico´s trade balance logged a $74 million dollar deficit in May. This figure compares to a $2.256 billion deficit a year ago and an expected -$1.1 billion figure. With this, in the first five months of 2023, the trade balance has accumulated a deficit worth $6.382 billion. Breaking this figure down, exports reached $52.86 billion (+5.8% y/y): $2.729 billion (-28.2% y/y) in oil exports and $50.132 billion (+8.6% y/y) in non-oil exports (-0.18% y/y). On the other hand, merchandise imports amounted to $52.935 billion (1.4% y/y) due to a 7.8% y/y increase in non-oil imports and a -40.1% decline in oil imports. By type of good, annual increases were recorded in both consumer goods imports (+13.5%) and capital goods imports (24.1%), while imported intermediate goods decreased (-2.8%). Overall, May´s figures point to greater momentum in Mexican foreign trade, logged moderate growth, and recorded a much smaller than expected trade deficit.