Consumer stocks rose Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) edging up 0.1% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) gaining 0.4%.
In corporate news, Costco (COST) shares rose 1.5% after the company reported net sales of $24.01 billion in May, up from $20.97 billion a year earlier.
Brown-Forman's (BF.A, BF.B) fiscal Q4 earnings unexpectedly declined on an annual basis, while the wine and spirits maker projected flat organic sales this year amid a weak consumer backdrop. Its Class A shares were up 0.8%, and the Class B shares rose 1.4%.
Toro (TTC) on Thursday lifted its full-year outlook on the back of a fiscal Q2 beat that came amid broad-based customer demand and margin expansion. Toro shares added 1.1%.