New Zealand Q2 Retail Sales improves to -1.0% QoQ, NZD/USD drops towards 0.5950 on downbeat ex Autos data

Early Wednesday in Asia, Statistics New Zealand released the quarterly Retail Sales data for the second quarter (Q2) of 2023.

As per the details, New Zealand’s (NZ) headline Retail Sales figures improves to -1.0% QoQ compared to the market expectations of -2.6% and -1.6% previous readings (revised from -1.4%).

That said, the Real Retail Sales also improved to -3.5% YoY from -4.1% prior details.

However, the Retail Sales ex Autos, also known as the core Retail Sales, drops to -1.8% QoQ for the same period from -1.1% prior but came in better than -2.5% market forecasts.

It’s worth noting that Reserve Bank of New Zealand Chief Economist Paul Conway crossed wires, via NZ media, earlier in the day and said they’re (RBNZ) mindful of the latest fall in the New Zealand Dollar (NZD), as the Kiwi drops to the yearly bottom.

RBNZ’s Convay also defended the central bank’s inaction by saying that they would lower the OCR sooner than they have signaled if there was a more significant slowdown in China than the RBNZ expects.

Market reaction

NZD/USD initially refreshed the intraday low to 0.5938 on the data release before recently picking up bids to 0.5945.

About New Zealand Retail Sales

The retail Sales released by Statistics New Zealand measures the total receipts of retail stores. Quarterly percent changes reflect the rate of changes in such sales. Changes in Retail Sales are widely followed as an indicator of consumer spending. A high reading is seen as positive (or bullish) for the NZD, while a low reading is seen as negative (or bearish).