S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) retail shares are leaping today amid news shopping spending jumped in the final week of June.
Retail shares rising today include JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES).
Let's take a look at what is impacting these retail companies today.
ASX 200 retail shares rise
Harvey Norman shares are leaping 1.47% today, JB Hi-Fi shares are rising 2.39%, while Wesfarmers shares are jumping 2.75%.
Consumer shares are rising amid positive news for the retail sector. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) has released figures showing shopping jumped 7.7% in the last weekend of June, the Australian Financial Review reported.
In quotes cited by the AFR, the ANZ also predicts a 50 basis rate rise is a "done deal" due to this consumer spending. ANZ economist Madeline Dunk said:
The RBA has noted it will be 'watching consumer spending carefully', and solid June spending only reinforces the case for a 50bp rate hike on Tuesday, as do strong job vacancies, a very tight labour market and still very negative real interest rates.
ANZ Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence data released on Friday showed 7% of Australians rated "now" as a decent time to buy an item for the home in June. The release stated:
The proportion of people who believe it is a good time to buy a major household item, the best indicator for spending, was up 7% points to 28% while there were now 49%, down 2% points, who said now is a bad time to buy a major household item.
Overall, the consumer confidence index dropped 1.8 points in June. The authors noted households are "dealing with a lot right now".
This includes incomes struggling to keep up with inflation, interest rate rises, house prices descending, and COVID and economic uncertainty.
Share price snapshot
The JB Hi-Fi share price has descended more than 22% in the past year. Meanwhile, Wesfarmers shares have leapt 27% and Harvey Norman shares are up 32%.
For perspective, the ASX 200 has lost 9.4% in the last 12 months.
