Consumer Cos Up on Earnings Optimism -- Consumer Roundup

Shares of retailers and other consumer companies rose amid optimism about earnings reports in the sector.

Joe Kinahan, chief market strategist at brokerage TD Ameritrade, said investors were watching to see if the rebound of some bricks-and-mortar chains' businesses in the third quarter carried through to the fourth quarter.

The University of Michigan on Friday said its consumer sentiment index was 94.4 in early January, down slightly from 95.9 in December, continuing to decline from a decade high recorded in October.

One brokerage said the increase in gasoline and oil prices recently is unlikely to discourage spending, however.

"The rise in oil prices to date has been largely due to strong demand: it poses only modest downside risk to growth," said analysts at brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research, in a note to clients. "In the US, the headwind to consumption will be partially offset by a tailwind to energy-related capex."

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2018 16:40 ET (21:40 GMT)