Australia retail sales rose 0.5% mom in January, slightly below expectation of 0.6% mom. Comparing to a year ago, sales turnover rose 10.6% yoy. All state and territories reported growth, except Queensland with -1.5% mom decline. Western Australia reported strongest sales growth by 2.1% mom, followed by Victoria and Tasmania at 1.0%.
Exports of goods and services rose 6% mom to AUD 39.8B in January. Imports of goods and services dropped -2% mom to AUD 29.7B. Trade surplus widened to AUD 10.1B, above expectation of AUD 6.3B.
