New Zealand’s Retail Sales rise 0.5% QoQ in Q1 vs. -0.3% expected

New Zealand’s Retail Sales, a measure of the country’s consumer spending, rose 0.5% QoQ in the first quarter of 2024 from the previous reading of a 1.8% fall, according to the official data published by Statistics New Zealand on Thursday. The figure came in better than market expectations with a decline of 0.3%.

Market reaction

The New Zealand Dollar NZD) attracts some buyers following the upbeat Retail Sales data. The NZD/USD pair is up 0.09% on the day at 0.6102.