Consumer stocks were mixed Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) decreasing 0.4% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) rising 1.7%.
In corporate news, Kroger (KR) reiterated its full-year outlook on Thursday as the supermarket chain's fiscal Q1 sales topped market estimates, although earnings fell short of expectations. Its shares fell past 8%.
Diageo (DEO) Chief Executive Dave Lewis has ordered senior executives to implement broad cost-cutting measures as part of a major restructuring effort, the Financial Times reported. Diageo shares rose 2.6%.
Starbucks' (SBUX) India joint venture plans to launch 50 to 100 new stores a year across the country, Bloomberg reported, citing a television interview with a company executive. Sushant Dash, chief executive of Tata Starbucks, a joint venture between Starbucks and India's Tata, said the company currently holds a 30% market share, the report said. Starbucks shares added 1.4%.