Sector Update: Consumer Stocks Decline Friday Afternoon
Consumer stocks were lower Friday afternoon, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) falling 1.6% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) decreasing 0.6%.In sector news, the Trump administration is expected to propose a tweak to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement that would require half of all automobile components and materials to come from sources in the US, The Wall Street Journal reported. The pact currently requires 75% of a vehicle's materials to come from North American sources but has no US-specific quota, the report said.In corporate news, Costco's (COST) fiscal Q3 revenue topped market estimates buoyed by its gas business amid high fuel prices, but the warehouse chain's earnings fell short of expectations. Its shares fell 4.3%.General Motors' (GM) partly owned battery plant in Ohio is delaying the return of hundreds of workers amid weak demand for electric cars, Reuters reported. GM shares were down 1.3%.International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) shares added 0.6% after it said Friday that it agreed to sell a majority stake in its food ingredients unit to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners in a deal worth roughly $4.3 billion, as part of IFF's efforts to focus on higher-margin businesses.Activist hedge fund Toms Capital Investment Management has built a significant stake in McCormick (MKC) as the US food company works on its planned acquisition of Unilever's (UL) food business, Reuters reported. McCormick shares rose 1.8%.