SYDNEY- Australian retail sales rose at the fastest pace in eight months in September, suggesting some resilience in consumer spending which would add to the case for an interest rate hike as soon as next week.
The Australian dollar rose 0.4 percent to $0.6360, while three-year government bond yield hit a fresh 12-year high of 4.388 percent . Markets leaned further into bets that the Reserve Bank of Australia will hike by a quarter-point in November, with a 61 percent probability, up from 58 percent before.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Monday that nominal retail sales rose 0.9 percent in September from August, better than analysts’ expectations for a 0.3 percent increase and an upwardly revised gain of 0.3 percent for August.
Sales of A$35.9 billion were up 2.0 percent from a year earlier, picking up for the first time since August last year when the annual gains peaked at almost 20 percent .
Ben Dorber, ABS head of retail statistics, said a diverse range of factors drove the September results.
“The warmer-than-usual start to spring lifted turnover at departments stores, household goods and clothing retailers, with more spending on hardware, gardening, and clothing items,” said Dorber.
He added that the release of a new iPhone model and the introduction of the government rebate program in Queensland to save energy consumption also helped with spending on household goods.