By James Glynn
SYDNEY--Australian retail sales rose much more strongly than-expected in February, in the latest sign that a yearlong string of interest-rate cuts are boosting consumer sentiment and spending.
Retail sales rose 1.3% in February from a month earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Thursday, compared with a 0.3% rise expected by economists. Sales for January were upwardly revised to 1.2% from 0.9% when the figures were first released. Sales had fallen in the previous three months.
Australia's central bank has cut rates six times since November 2011, seeking to stoke domestic sectors of the economy such as retail sales, as a mining boom that has powered growth for over a decade slows.
The Reserve Bank of Australia this week left interest rates unchanged for the third-straight month, signaling confidence that the most rate-sensitive parts of the economy are responding to the cuts. The last rate cut, in December, took the benchmark target to 3%, a low previously reached in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
-Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com
SYDNEY--Australian retail sales rose much more strongly than-expected in February, in the latest sign that a yearlong string of interest-rate cuts are boosting consumer sentiment and spending.
Retail sales rose 1.3% in February from a month earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Thursday, compared with a 0.3% rise expected by economists. Sales for January were upwardly revised to 1.2% from 0.9% when the figures were first released. Sales had fallen in the previous three months.
Australia's central bank has cut rates six times since November 2011, seeking to stoke domestic sectors of the economy such as retail sales, as a mining boom that has powered growth for over a decade slows.
The Reserve Bank of Australia this week left interest rates unchanged for the third-straight month, signaling confidence that the most rate-sensitive parts of the economy are responding to the cuts. The last rate cut, in December, took the benchmark target to 3%, a low previously reached in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
-Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com
