Australia’s retail sales firm as consumer confidence brightens

Sales grow: Cyclists on the boardwalk at Circular Quay in Sydney. Statistics show retail sales rose 0.6% in October from September, when they grew a meagre 0.1%, while analysts had looked for a gain of 0.4% in October. — Bloomberg

SYDNEY: Australian retail sales firmed for a third straight month in October as tax cuts flowed through to wage packets and consumers became more confident that interest rates would not increase again, although policy easing still looked distant.

Data on inventories proved to be a bit of a drag on the economy in the third quarter, but contribution from net exports suggests growth still likely picked up.