Consumer stocks rose late Friday afternoon, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) adding 0.2% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) increasing 0.4%.
In sector news, US consumer sentiment declined to a fresh record low in May as people fear that high gasoline prices could erode their purchasing power, University of Michigan said Friday. The main sentiment index tumbled 10% to 44.8 from last month. The consensus in a Bloomberg-compiled poll was for May's print to stay unchanged from a preliminary 48.2 estimate.
In corporate news, Ross Stores (ROST) shares climbed 8% after the discount retailer lifted its full-year outlook and reported better-than-expected fiscal Q1 results.
Imax (IMAX) shares jumped past 14% after The Wall Street Journal reported the company is exploring a sale and has approached entertainment companies as potential buyers.
Estee Lauder (EL) shares rose nearly 12% after the cosmetics company and Puig said late Thursday they have ended discussions over a potential merger.
Uber (UBER) is evaluating options for a complete buyout of Delivery Hero, Bloomberg reported. Uber shares were down 2.4%.