Imports would have been even lower but for $65 million worth of face masks, up by $58m on April 2019.
Exports also fell but only by 4 per cent to $5.3b, mainly because of a 69 per cent fall in forestry products. The forestry industry was shut down through the lockdown while other primary exporters were able to continue operating.
"What made the kiwi stand out was the trade data – exports held up pretty well through the lockdown," said Martin Rudings, a private client manager at OMF.
Equities markets through Asia are buoyant today and the US stock futures are also up – the US and Britain will open later today after yesterday's holiday in both countries.
"Generally, the markets are feeling in a positive mood.
"There are still things we can't get away from, like the US-China trade tensions and accusations about the virus and where that truly started," Rudings said.
However, US President Donald Trump was too busy throwing mud in directions other than China to create any new headlines today.
"The market really wants to play the optimistic game," Rudings said.
The New Zealand dollar was trading at 93.23 Australian cents at 5pm from 93.27 cents at the same time yesterday. It was at 50.13 British pence from 50.07 pence, at 56.10 euro cents from 55.98 cents, at 66.06 yen from 65.63 yen and at 4.3690 Chinese yuan from 4.3522 yuan.
The bid price on the two-year swap rate closed at 0.1950 per cent from 0.1700 per cent yesterday, while 10-year swaps were at 0.6525 per cent from 0.5975 per cent.
