Goldman with the note.
Korea’s workday-adjusted exports in the first 20 days of November dropped 7.7%mom sa, pulling back from a 7.1% gain last month. Excluding volatile exports of ships and oil products, the pullback was limited to 1.5%, while total exports without work-day adjustments contracted 4.9%. Semiconductor exports also pulled back modestly after three months of gains. By destination, exports to the US rebounded to 2.7% mom sa, whereas exports to other major destinations including China fell. Imports fell more sharply than exports, by 9.4% mom sa, narrowing the trade deficit to -US$1.4bn (not seasonally adjusted) from -US$3.7bn last month.
We have seen elsewhere a small turn in the global manufacturing cycle but it is nascent and weak.
