New Zealand Dollar is Today's Best Performing Currency; GBP/NZD 0.36 pct in the Red

"The best performing currency is the New Zealand dollar, which is up approximately 0.9% against the greenback.  New Zealand retail sales surged 1.7% in the second quarter," notes Kathy Lien at BK Asset Management, "sales volumes rose in 12 out of 15 retail categories with volume excluding fuel and vehicles rising at its strongest pace since the fourth quarter of 2006. Yet the sell-off in AUD/NZD has been limited (so far) by an equally surprising rise in Australian consumer confidence."

The Westpac index rose 3.5% to the highest level since March.  

It has been a long time since we have seen upside surprises in Australian data and that may be part of the reason why investors are eyeing the improvement with caution.