Norway retail sales rise for the second straight month in February

Data released by Statistics Norway showed Thursday that Norway's retail sales posted gains for the second straight month in February. Norway's retail sales volume, excluding motor vehicles, rose a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent month-over-month in February.

It was a second straight month of rise but was slower than the 1.4 percent climb in January. On an annual basis, the volume of retail sales rose a working-day-adjusted 1.0 percent in February and the value of sales grew by 3.3 percent.

During the December to February period, retail sales volume dropped a working-day-adjusted 0.9 percent compared with the same period last year.

The Norwegian Krone was weaker against major peers. USD/NOK was trading 0.41 percent higher on the day at 8.5280, while EUR/NOK was up 0.18 percent at 9.1585 at around 0915 GMT.