French Trade Deficit Shrinks: France reported a...

French Trade Deficit Shrinks: France reported a narrower-than-expected February trade deficit, but economists said it would be wrong to read too much into the figures. The customs office said the gap on external trade fell to a seasonally adjusted $81 million (500 million francs) from a $419-million (2.6 billion francs) deficit in January. Economists said the news should give heart to securities markets and the franc, but was not yet a sign of a significantly improving overall trend.