Retail sector outperforms as investors eye Amazon Prime Day spillover
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The retail sector outperformed broader markets as Amazon Prime Day kicked off.
The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA:XRT) rose 1.5% on Monday morning amid the annual two-day shopping frenzy. The RealReal (NASDAQ:REAL) rose 17%, Bark (NYSE:BARK) was up 7.7%, ContextLogic (NASDAQ:WISH) increased 4.7%, Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) jumped 8.8% and The Gap (NYSE:GPS) rose 4.85%. The S&P 500 was up 0.21%.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) increased about 1%.
Analysts think the Prime Day event will be a significant test of consumer discretionary spending ahead of the back-to-school and holiday seasons in the back half of the year.
In the biggest retail event of the summer, Prime Day sales will simultaneously take place on July 11-12 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the U.S., and the UK.
London-based investment management company Fundsmith sold out of its Amazon (AMZN) position in Q2 with the firmâs CEO Terry Smith warning about a misallocation of capital by the company in grocery retail after the Seattle-based company already stubbed its toe with the Whole Foods acquisition.
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