Investing.com - The U.S. trade deficit widened to the highest level since 1996 in March, as exports edged up 0.9% and imports surged 7.7%, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said that the U.S. trade deficit widened to a seasonally adjusted $51.37 billion in March from a deficit of $35.89 billion in February, whose figure was revised from a previously reported deficit of $35.4 billion.
Analysts had expected the U.S. trade deficit to widen to $41.2 billion in March.
U.S. exports edged up 0.9% to $187.84 billion in March, while imports surged 7.7% to $239.21 billion.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1147 from around 1.1120 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5158 from 1.5130 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 120.33 from 120.44 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 95.57, compared to 95.75 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures pointed to a drop of 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures shed 0.1%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 0.25%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,197.50 a troy ounce, compared to $1,195.50 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $60.41 a barrel from $60.20 earlier.