Consumer Stocks Dip As H&M Feels 'Amazon Effect' - Consumer Roundup

Shares of retailers and other consumer-services companies ticked down after The Wall Street Journal reported that the "Amazon effect" is hurting bricks-and-mortar retail stocks world-wide. While the biggest market-share losses by mall-based and other physical stores to Amazon have occurred in the U.S., there are signs that online retailers are encroaching on business world-wide. Shares of Swedish fast-fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz fell sharply after it said profit sank in the third quarter, with executives citing "digitization" as one reason for diminished numbers of store visitors. Shares of beverage maker Hain Celestial rose after it yielded to pressure from activist investor Engaged Capital, and will nominate six new directors to its board, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Kellogg Chief Executive John Bryant will step down next week after nearly seven years of leading the cereal and snack giant, another sign of upheaval in a packaged-food industry reeling from changing consumer tastes and volatile commodities markets.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 28, 2017 16:29 ET (20:29 GMT)