NZD News

New Zealand's home loan rules introduced last October to curb the threat to financial stability also helped to reduce pressures on the New Zealand dollar exchange rate, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Deputy Governor Grant Spencer said Thursday.

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Food prices in New Zealand eased 0.3 percent on month in March, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday.

That follows the 1.0 percent decline in February and the 1.2 percent gain in January.

On a yearly basis, food prices climbed 1.2 percent after adding 0.2 percent in February and 0.9 percent in January.

The 1.6 percent fall for grocery food was influenced by price falls across most of the subgroups.

NZDUSD M5 : 20 pips price movement by NZD - Food Price Index (FPI) news event :

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Total credit card spending in New Zealand jumped a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent on month in March, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said on Wednesday - coming in at NZ$3.062 billion.

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New Zealand saw a merchandise trade surplus of NZ$920 million in March, Statistics New Zealand said on Tuesday.

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New Zealand business confidence weakened in April from the prior month, but it remained at an elevated level near a 20-year high, the latest monthly ANZ business outlook survey showed Wednesday.

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Retail credit card spending in New Zealand was up a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on month in April, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday.

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Retail credit card spending in New Zealand added a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on month in April, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday.

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The volume of total retail sales in New Zealand gained a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 204, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday.

That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.9 percent following the upwardly revised gain of 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter (originally 1.2 percent).

"Ten of the 15 retail industries had higher sales volumes in this latest quarter," business indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.

The industries with the largest increases in March were: electrical and electronic goods retailing, up 5.5 percent; hardware, building, and garden supplies retailing, up 2.0 percent; and food and beverage services, up 1.5 percent.

"There has been sustained growth in the sales volumes for the electrical and electronic goods industry, with the trend rising for the past six years," Islam said.

The volume of sales in the core retailing industries (which excludes the vehicle-related industries) added 0.8 percent.

For the core retail industries, sales rose 0.7 percent (NZ$102 million).

Looking at the longer-term picture, the trends for both total retail sales volumes and values have generally been rising since mid-2009, the statistics bureau said.

The value of retail sales was NZ$18.3 billion in the first quarter - up 0.7 percent on quarter and 3.4 percent on year.

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Output producer prices in New Zealand climbed 0.9 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2014, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday.

The output PPI - prices received by New Zealand producers - topped forecasts for an increase of 0.7 percent following the 0.4 percent contraction in the fourth quarter.

Input prices - prices of goods and services used by New Zealand producers - climbed 1.0 percent on quarter, topping expectations for 0.4 percent after shedding 0.7 percent in the three months prior.

"The higher prices for electricity generation contributed to both the higher input and output PPIs in the latest quarter," prices manager Chris Pike said. "This often happens in March quarters, due to spot-market conditions and low lake levels."

The output electricity and gas supply price index rose 14 percent, which contributed more than half of the rise in the output PPI. The input electricity and gas supply price index (up 20 percent) contributed nearly three-quarters of the rise in the input PPI.

Higher prices for raw milk resulted in an increase in prices received by dairy cattle farmers (up 4.0 percent), and an increase in input prices paid by dairy product manufacturers (up 3.1 percent) in the latest quarter.

On a yearly basis, producer rice outputs climbed 4.0 percent after gaining 3.8 percent in Q1, while inputs added 3.1 percent after rising 2.8 percent in the previous three months.

On a yearly basis, the output electricity and gas supply price index rose 2.8 percent, while inputs rose 0.7 percent.

The prices received by the dairy cattle farming industry surged 47 percent, and the prices paid by the dairy product manufacturing industry spiked 39 percent.

Also on Monday, the bureau said that capital goods prices in New Zealand were up 0.6 percent on quarter in Q1.

The major upward contributions to the capital goods price index came from the residential buildings price index (up 1.1 percent), and the non-residential buildings price index (up 0.8 percent).

The gains were offset by a decrease in the price index for transport equipment (down 0.4 percent). The appreciating New Zealand dollar against most key currencies also influenced this price change.

On a yearly basis, the CGPI rose 2.1 percent. The increases for residential buildings (up 4.6 percent) and non-residential buildings (up 3.5 percent) were the highest since 2008, the bureau noted.

Finally, the Performance of Services Index came in with a score of 58.9 in April, up from the upwardly revised 58.5 in March (originally 58.3) - and accelerating above the line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

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An index measuring consumer confidence in New Zealand was down 4.4 percent on month in May, the latest survey from ANZ Bank revealed on Friday - coming in with a score of 127.6.

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