Local shares in retreat as sales look up for retailers

Eight of the nine ASX industrial sectors were in the red, but IT stocks, property trusts and consumer discretionaries had made slight gains.

Electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi was a stand-out, surging 5.6 per cent to $82.29 after announcing a jump in sales growth across its Australian and New Zealand arms.

The sector was also boosted by a modest 0.1 per cent uptick in retail sales figures in September, following a 0.7 per cent gain in August.

"After a boost last month from warmer-than-usual weather, retail spending held firm in September," Australian Bureau of Statistics head of business statistics Robert Ewing said.

The big four banks were in the red again after losing ground the previous day.

CBA was down 0.7 per cent, ANZ 0.3 per cent, Westpac 0.2 per cent, while NAB shed less than 0.1 per cent.

The big miners were mixed, with BHP down 0.7 per cent and Rio 0.6 per cent lower, while Fortescue rose 0.3 per cent.

Diversified miner Mineral Resources soared 13 per cent after selling gas exploration permits to Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting for up to $1.1 billion.

"This transaction maximises the value of our exploration success for shareholders and again showcases our ability to unlock significant capital from MinRes' portfolio of assets," the company's chief executive of energy Darren Hardy said.

Woolworths slipped 1.8 per cent as the supermarket giant's board faced a grilling from shareholders about environmental sustainability and price-gouging claims.

Grocery rival Coles also fell 1.3 per cent after first quarter supermarket sales came in below expectations at 3.5 per cent - and below Woolworths' 3.8 per cent.

Overall inflation excluding tobacco slowed to one per cent, with outright falls in prices for the meat, dairy, health and beauty and homecare categories.

The Australian dollar was buying 65.65 US cents, from 65.40 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.