WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer confidence in New Zealand lifted in February as wages finally looked set to grow and the housing market picked back up, a survey showed on Friday.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index rose to 127.7 from 126.9 in the previous month.
"We suspect one has to look no further than the tight labour market to explain why," said Sharon Zollner, chief economist at ANZ Bank. "The outlook for household incomes is good...With the housing market seemingly having found a floor, downside risks have receded."
A reading above 100 shows optimism, while below that indicates pessimism.
Expectations for consumer price inflation over the next two years edged up to 3.1 percent from 2.9 percent in the previous survey.
(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Peter Graff)
