Consumer Shares Up After Mixed Data, Walmart Upgrade - Consumer Roundup

Shares of retailers and other consumer-services companies rose after mixed economic data and a brokerage recommendation for Walmart. Retail sales -- a measure of consumer spending at stores, restaurants and websites -- decreased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in June from the prior month, the Commerce Department said. Walmart shares rose after analysts at brokerage Goldman Sachs strongly recommended buying the stock, saying it was equipped to compete with Amazon.com, thanks to its focus on small markets, inventory discipline, capacity for investment and scale. The University of Michigan on Friday said the preliminary reading of its consumer-sentiment index was 93.1 in July, down from a June reading of 95.1 and a May reading of 97.1.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 14, 2017 16:22 ET (20:22 GMT)