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- Leslie Preston, TD Bank
Canada's trade balance registered a surplus for the second consecutive month in December, slightly missing analysts' forecasts, official figures revealed on Wednesday. Statistics Canada reported the country's merchandise trade surplus narrowed to C$0.9 billion in the final month of 2017, following the preceding month's upwardly revised surplus of C$1.0 billion and falling behind analysts' expectations of a rise to C$1.2 billion. In a report, the federal statistics agency said the December trade surplus was mainly driven by higher energy-product exports that posted a 16% surge amid rising prices and offset a fall in exports of manufactured goods. That was the largest monthly gain since 2010. According to the report, the oil price rebound and recovery from the Alberta wildfires that took place in May 2016 helped Canada's international trade climb to levels not seen since 2014. Furthermore, Canada's trade balance registered a C$0.6 billion-surplus in the Q4 of 2016, compared with a C$8.6 billion-trade-deficit in prior quarter. However, on an annual basis, the country's trade gap widened to a record high of C$26.1 billion in 2016, up from the preceding year's C$23 billion-deficit. Separately, the Richard Ivey School of Business said on Tuesday its PMI fell unexpectedly to 57.2 in January, down from December's 60.8, while analysts anticipated a slighter decrease to 58.3 points.