Spike in Gold Inventories Points to Another Large US Trade Gap

The rush of gold bullion deliveries into New York depositories from overseas will likely keep the US goods-trade deficit close to a record.

February merchandise-trade data on Thursday are likely to show the deficit grew to almost $162 billion, according to Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Santander US Capital Markets. He’s one of several forecasters who expect the deficit to widen, or at least stay close to January’s $155.6 billion, though the median projection in a Bloomberg survey calls for it to narrow.