Australia retail sales unexpectedly fall 0.4% in March

SYDNEY, April 30 (Reuters) - Australian retail sales fell unexpectedly in March as cautious consumers pulled back spending amid elevated costs of living, while the growth in annual sales eased to the lowest in more than two years.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday showed retail sales fell 0.4% in March from February, when they rose by a revised 0.2%. Analysts had looked for a rise of 0.2%.

Sales of A$35.66 billion ($23.37 billion) were up just 0.8% from a year earlier, the slowest pace of gains since August 2021. ($1 = 1.5260 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Himani Sarkar)