Ahead of tonight's NZ Q4 Retail Sales...>

NEW ZEALAND: Ahead of tonight's NZ Q4 Retail Sales (2145GMT) Analysts at ANZ

have pencilled in a 1.2% q/q lift in total sales volumes, which would certainly

be a jump from Q3's modest 0.2% q/q growth (although that, in

part, was impacted by an unwind in hospitality-related spending following some

key tourist events in Q2).

- Westpac expect the December quarter retail spending figures will show that New

Zealand households ended 2017 with a bang. We're forecasting a 1.4% gain in

spending over the quarter. Monthly spending figures have shown solid increases

in core spending categories in recent months.

- TD Securities expect volumes to lift by +2.0%/qtr. An outcome that strong is a

decent start to Dec qtr GDP, given it accounts for 61% of GDP(E).