After a horror run for the discretionary retail sector, Australia’s leading analysts and fund managers are scouring the market for recession-proof businesses to withstand a consumer confidence slump as living costs soar.

Shaun Cousins, an analyst who has spent more than 20 years covering retail stocks at JP Morgan and now UBS, said the investment bank’s data shows consumers really tightened their belts from April and May, after the Reserve Bank delivered 11 consecutive rate increases from May 2022 to take rates to their highest since April 2012.