Electronic card spending in New Zealand was up a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on month in April, Statistics New Zealand said on Tuesday.
That was unchanged from the March reading and exceeded expectations for a decline of 0.2 percent.
Spending in the core retail industries rose 0.8 percent on month.
By spending category, the monthly movements were: . consumables, up NZ$60 million (2.3 percent) . durables, up NZ$17 million (1.0 percent) . apparel, down NZ$5.7 million (1.6 percent) . motor vehicles (excluding fuel), down NZ$9.9 million (4.5 percent) . fuel, down NZ$15 million (2.5 percent). On a yearly basis, electronic retail spending climbed 6.4 percent - shy of expectations for an increase of 8.6 percent and down from 15.5 percent in the previous month.
