** Analysts at Morningstar say recession-like sentiment
among Australian consumers and rising wage bills paint a very
dismal outlook for local retailers
** Brokerage anticipates cost pressures to be exaggerated by
softening demand for discretionary retailers
** Sees like-for like sales declining for fashion and
leisure goods retailers like Myer MYR.AX , Accent Group
AX1.AX , Premier Investments PMV.AX and Super Retail SUL.AX
** Interest-rate uncertainty is a factor, and likely to
weigh on willingness to spend, particularly on big-ticket items
- Brokerage
** MYR shares currently down 2% whereas AX1 is down 0.1%
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru)
((Rishav.Chatterjee@thomsonreuters.com;))