Australia: Trade and retail boom in February - TDS

Annette Beacher, chief Asia-Pacific macro strategist at TD Securities, note that Australia’s retail sales rose by +0.8%/m in February and their tracking for Q1 volumes is now +0.5%/q (Q4 was anaemic at +0.1%/q).

Key Quotes

“The RBA's downside risk is weak spending so today's report is a relief, but housing-related risks remain tilted to the downside hence cash payments and tax cuts in yesterday's Budget provide a valuable offset.”

“The Feb trade surplus widened to +$A4.8b (TD +$A4.9b) as the correction in exports was small compared with prior +6.1%/m and imports fell as expected. China's Feb trade report revealed exports to Australia collapsed, and the March report is released Apr 12. Trade with Japan is accelerating as the bulk of LNG exports are committed to Japan.”