Retail spending rose 0.8 per cent in February, beating market expectations.

Seasonally adjusted retail spending was $27.27 billion, following a rise of 0.1 per cent in January, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Wednesday.

The result was above the consensus forecast of a 0.3 per cent rise, and the Australian dollar immediately rose about 0.2 per cent against the US dollar to 70.80 US cents.