“Another large trade surplus provides a cushion for the People’s Bank of China in the face of soaring capital outflows”, Capital Economics’ Martin said.
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The Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -2.42% was lasted down 1.3%.
The General Administration of Customs reported that exports fell 1.4% year over year, a much smaller decline that the 8% drop expected by Reuters’ consensus estimate and the 6.8% plunge in November.
Chinese mainland equities plunged more than 13 percent during this year’s first week of trading in 2016, and trading was halted twice due to a new circuit breaker mechanism that went into effect this year. And the CSI 300-a collection of blue-chip companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen-fell 3.2% on today and 7.2% for the week.
The dollar was up against all the main currencies, rising 0.25% against the pound, 0.26% against the euro and 0.42% against the yen.
More stability in China would also leave the way clearer for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year and the brighter tone drove the dollar around half a percent higher against the euro and yen.
Global markets have been in free fall since the beginning of the year, owing to continuous worries about the impact of a growth slowdown in China – a key driver of world growth – on other economies.
In dollar-denominated terms, China’s exports fell for the sixth consecutive month, by 1.4 percent from the same month in December, but the pace of fall decelerated from November’s 6.8 percent decline. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.3 per cent to 4,975.60.
Prior to the afternoon’s stock market rout, data reportedly released by Beijing earlier Friday showed that Chinese banks remain wary of issuing new business loans. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended 0.6% lower, pulling back from a loss of 2.1% earlier in the day.
The price of oil increased for the first time in eight days following the better-than-expected Chinese trade data. Brent crude, a benchmark for worldwide oils, fell 32 cents to $30.56 per barrel in London.
Against a basket of currencies the dollar gained 0.2 percent.
Bloomberg reports that options prices indicate there’s a 29 percent chance the currency will weaken beyond its permitted trading range of HK$7.75-HK$7.85 by the end of this year, up from 9.5 percent on December 31.
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China’s central bank conducted 160 billion yuan ($US24 billion) of seven-day reverse-repurchase agreements in its open-market operations on Thursday, up from 70 billion yuan a week ago.
