At noon AEDT on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 35.4 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 7,503.9, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 32.9 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 7,736.0.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors were higher at midday, with the consumer discretionary sector up 1.1 per cent.
On Tuesday the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that retail trade turnover rose two per cent in November, following a 0.4 per cent fall in October. Job vacancy figures the ABS released on Wednesday showed that the labour market remains relatively tight, potentially supporting more discretionary spending.
JB Hi-Fi was up 3.3 per cent to an all-time high of $56.50, while fashion e-retailer Cettire had gained 2.1 per cent to $2.725 and sneaker seller Accent Group was up 3.6 per cent to a four-and-a-half month high of $2.135.
The Big Four banks were all up, with NAB climbing 1.0 per cent, CBA adding 1.3 per cent, Westpac advancing 1.4 per cent and ANZ 0.8 per cent higher.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP was basically flat, Rio Tinto was down 0.2 per cent and Fortescue had dropped 1.1 per cent.
Lithium miners were recouping a bit of Wednesday's heavy losses, with Pilbara up 0.8 per cent and Mineral Resources 0.9 per cent higher.
The energy sector was the biggest loser, down 0.3 per cent, with coalminers finally in the red after days of gains.
Whitehaven had dropped 2.1 per cent and Yancoal had dropped 1.1 per cent, while oil giant Woodside was up 0.5 per cent.
In small caps, Little Green Pharma was down 3.5 per cent to 14c after the cannabis company's subsidiary Reset Mind Sciences began screening patients for a clinical trial studying how best to use psilocybin - "magic mushrooms" - to treat treatment-resistant depression.
The Australian dollar was buying 67.13 US cents, from 67.03 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
The crypto market was collectively up 4.1 per cent after the United States securities regulator approved the first US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, making it easier for individuals and institutions to gain exposure to the original cryptocurrency.Â
Bitcoin was up 1.7 per cent to $US46,500, or nearly $A69,000 on domestic exchanges.
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