The amount of money New Zealanders and visitors to the country spent with retailers using debit and credit cards rose in April, Statistics New Zealand said today. The value of transactions across all retail industries was up 0.8 percent when adjusted for seasonal effects.

The NZD has started the week on the back foot. In fact, the kiwi has been one of the worst performing currencies over the past 24 hours. The NZD/USD shed around a cent overnight, before once again bouncing off pivotal support close to the 200 day moving average at 0.8085.

The amount New Zealanders and visitors to the country spent with their debit and credit cards fell slightly in March, Statistics New Zealand said today. The total value of electronic card transactions was down 0.2 percent, when adjusted for seasonal effects.

The NZD has been supported by a better tone in markets (European and US equity markets are up 0.70- 2.0%). The NZD/USD currently trades around 0.8170.

Yesterday's NZIER quarterly survey of business opinion showed business expectations remain lofty, despite recent past malaise.

After starting the week on the front foot, the NZD has suffered a sharp fall from grace over the past 24 hours.

From around 0.8260 this time yesterday, the NZD/USD has shed around a cent amid rising worries about the strength of Chinese demand.

New Zealanders are back buying property or preparing to buy property with a massive hike in the numbers of people inquiring about mortgages last month.

Kiwibank has declared a profit of $37.9 million after tax for the six months ended December 31, 2011. This compares with a profit after tax of $13.9 million for the same period in 2010, and $23.5 million in 2009.

In the six months from July 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011:

After the financial fright caused by the global financial crisis two years ago, Kiwis put their big spending plans on hold and adopted a "wait and see" attitude before taking on more personal debt.

Figures released today by Paymark showed the modest pickup in spending continued during January with Kiwis spending almost $3.8 billion via the Paymark network across the country.