"Much stronger-than-expected Chinese trade data have significantly boosted the Australian dollar and miners.
The closely-watched official figures showed that exports in September surged 15.3 per cent from a year ago, ahead of economist forecasts in a Bloomberg survey that centred on 12 per cent annual growth.
More importantly for Australia, China's imports, which were expected to have fallen around 2 per cent, actually rose 7 per cent.
Specifically, China's demand for iron ore in September was up 13.1 per cent from August, sparking a dramatic recovery in the share prices of Australian miners.
Iron ore specialist Fortescue Metals jumped nearly 6 per cent to $3.45, while Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were up 1.9 and 0.9 per cent respectively by 1:37pm (AEDT).
The data also showed that coal imports - another key Australian export to China - were up 12.2 per cent to 21.2 million tonnes. Whitehaven Coal was up 1 cent to $1.51.
The Australian dollar also received a boost from the figures, rising from a low around 86.5 US earlier this morning to a peak of 87.5 US cents, before easing back slightly to 87.32."
GBG Price at posting:
3.2¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
