Consumer staples stocks advanced nearly 2% to outperform all other sectors in midday trading on Thursday.

Shares of supermarket operators Coles Group (ASX:COL) and Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW) both gained more than 1% after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said on Wednesday that the revised Food and Grocery Code of Conduct has come into force.

On the flip side, information technology stocks retreated 3%.

WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) was falling more than 4%, while Xero (ASX:XRO) was down nearly 3%.