Stocks inch higher on depressed retail sales

The benchmark ASX 200 edged up 0.35 per cent, or 26.7 points, to finish at 7664.10, while the broader All Ordinaries index lifted 0.32 per cent, or 25.4 points, to close at 7932.March retail sales data from the ABS showed a 0.4 per cent fall in spending across the month, well below economists’ expectations of a 0.2 per cent increase.

“If Michele Bullock was thinking about hiking rates after last week’s inflation data, that number today will probably cause her to have second thoughts. The small uplift followed a good session on Wall Street overnight on Monday, which saw the Dow Jones close up 0.38 per cent, the S and P 500 index finish up 0.32 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lift 0.35 per cent.

Rio Tinto fell 0.37 per cent to close at $130.49 while Fortescue jumped 1.48 per cent to finish at $26.05.The big banks gained ahead of trading updates in early May from NAB, Macquarie, Westpac and ANZ.

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