New Zealand QoQ Retail Sales flat at 0%, but beat the -0.8% forecast

• NZ Retail Sales flat at 0%, but beat market expectations of -0.8%.
• QoQ NZ Retail Sales last printed at -1% in the second quarter.

New Zealand's third-quarter Retail Sales beat expectations early Friday, printing at 0% QoQ and showing a 1% rebound in consumption spending after excluding automobiles and transport. Markets were anticipating a 0.8% decline in the headline figure compared to the second quarter's -1% print.

Retail Sales less automotive purchases rebounded 1%, reversing course on the market forecast of -1.5% and chewing through a portion of last quarter's print of -1.6%, which was revised upwards from -1.8%.

According to Stats NZ, the consumables categories saw the highest increases in overall sales volumes, with clothing, footwear, and personal accessories climbing 4% over the quarter, with hardware and building supplies up 2.9% and grocery items climbing an additional 1%.

Vehicles, transportation, and fuel spending were the biggest drags on Retail Sales by volume, with fuel retailing and motor vehicles & parts both declining 3.4% apiece.

(via Stats NZ) Sales values up in September

Eleven of the 15 industries had higher seasonally adjusted sales values in the September 2023 quarter compared with the June 2023 quarter. With price effects included, the largest industry movements were:

• fuel retailing – up 7.0 percent (NZD $167 million)
• motor vehicle and parts retailing – down 2.9 percent (NZD $124 million)
• supermarket and grocery stores – up 1.7 percent (NZD $109 million)
• food and beverage services – up 1.9 percent (NZD $72 million)
• hardware, building, and garden supplies – up 2.6 percent (NZD $72 million).

Market reaction

The Kiwi only saw a limited reaction in early Friday market action, and the NZD/USD pair continues to trade near 0.6050 following the Retail Sales data release.