Consumer Cos Down After Mixed July Report, Earnings -- Consumer Roundup

Shares of retailers and other consumer-services companies fell after a mixed retail sales report and disappointing store earnings.

Sales at U.S. retailers rose a larger-than-expected 0.6% in July, the biggest monthly gain since December, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. In a more negative development for the bricks-and-mortar retail industry, some of the strongest gains were in online spending, and Amazon.com's annual "Prime Day" event may have been a significant contributor to that growth.

Home Depot shares fell even after the home-improvement store boosted its profit projection for the second time this year, citing demand from first-time home buyers, which could quell investor concerns about the reputedly less acquisitive millennial generation. "These results represent some of the best results in retail, which justifies HD's premium valuation, in our view," said analysts at brokerage Credit Suisse, as reported earlier.

Shares of Dick's Sporting Goods plunged after the sportswear purveyor posted a decline in same-store sales. Coach declined after the luxury handbag retailer posted weaker-than-anticipated quarterly sales.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 15, 2017 16:43 ET (20:43 GMT)