Consumer defensive stocks continue to trek higher
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Investors once again are taking some shelter in consumer defensive stocks in favor of risk-on bets in tech, crypto, and SPAC/IPO names
In early trading on Wednesday, there were steady gains for McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) +1.65%, Kroger (KR) +1.60%, PepsiCo (PEP) +1.55%, Sysco (SYY) +1.48%, and Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) +1.45%.
Other consumer defensive stocks catching attention included General Mills (GIS) +4.75% after a strong earnings report, Farmer Bros (FARM) +3.26%, Zevia PBC (ZVIA) +2.10%, Better Choice Company (BTTR) +1.60%, and Coca-Cola (KO) +1.00%.
Investors are looking skeptically at last week's stock market rally, according to a BofA survey. Clients were net sellers of equities, with only defensive sectors Utilities and Consumer Staples seeing inflows, noted the firm.
Are investors betting too late or too heavily on the consumer staples sector? Seeking Alpha author Jim Sloan said investors need to be careful where they stand if they stay overweight staples too long when economic recovery and expansion begins.