Retail sales in December dropped by 2.7%, falling short of the expected 1.9% decline, indicating that consumers reduced their spending ahead of Christmas. This trend suggests a continued shift in end-of-year shopping habits towards November, driven by Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, while annual sales for December increased by 0.8%.
At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.63 per cent higher at 7,630.50.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 44 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Information Technology, up 1.79 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Energy, down 0.39 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST), trading 2.39 per cent higher at $13.26. It is followed by shares in Atlas Arteria (ASX:ALX) and EBOS Group (ASX:EBO).
The worst-performing large cap is Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY), trading 1.78 per cent lower at $6.08. It is followed by shares in Infratil (ASX:IFT) and Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1782.70 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.18 US cents.
