THE sharemarket closed higher after news that Australian retailers recorded their strongest January sales growth in six years led to gains for discretionary retail stocks.
Retail spending rose 0.9 per cent, seasonally adjusted, in January reversing three months of decline in the sector, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael McCarthy said while the announcement led to gains for discretionary retailers, the supermarket giants' shares were rising before the better-than-expected sales figures were released.
"That may be because of the lobbying that's going on in Canberra and the case that Woolworths has made about the competition from Aldi," he said.
"It may have got some investors thinking it's time to get further exposure there."
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is investigating allegations of predatory behaviour in the supermarket industry.
