Australia's August trade surplus shrinks to A$495M as data center equipment imports surge

A reading about A$1.5 billion below the poll is a clear miss for a surplus that had already been narrowing, and if the import pattern holds it could weigh on the trade contribution to growth. The composition is more informative than the headline: the imports driving the miss are investment-type goods tied to data center build-outs, so the signal is about capital spending demand more than household consumption. Gold's 20% rebound shows how much monthly export swings can distort the balance, which argues for caution in reading one month as a trend. Softer job vacancies add a note of cooling labour demand, leaving the domestic data mixed. --- Earlier: Australia: RBA says most mortgage holders keep equity even if house prices fall another 20% Australia manufacturing PMI falls to 49.6 as new orders drop for first time since June --- A data center equipment buying spree swamped a gold-led export rebound, pulling Australia's goods surplus well below forecast. Summary: Australia's August goods surplus was A$495 million (US$343.73 million), down from a revised A$1.4 billion in July and well below the A$2.0 billion Reuters poll forecast. Imports rose 5.8% on the month, reversing a 2.5% fall in the prior reading. The import rise was led by a 79% jump in ADP equipment used in data centers, with aircraft shipments also higher. Exports rose 3.7%, recovering from a 3.3% drop, with non-monetary gold up 20%. Separate data showed job vacancies fell 0.9% on the quarter after a 2.1% decline previously. Australia's goods trade surplus narrowed sharply in August as a surge in imports of data center equipment overwhelmed a rebound in gold exports, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday. The balance on goods was a surplus of A$495 million (US$343.73 million), down from a revised A$1.4 billion in July and well short of the A$2.0 billion surplus forecast in a Reuters poll. Imports rose 5.8% on the month, reversing a 2.5% fall in the prior reading. The increase was led by a