Consumer Cos Up As Spending Buoys GDP Growth - Consumer Roundup

Shares of retailers and other consumer companies rose after Commerce Department data showed that higher consumer spending drove solid fourth-quarter economic growth. Soaring stock and property prices may be driving discretionary spending higher. When consumers' brokerage and home values rise, there's a tendency to increase spending that economists dub the "wealth effect." Shares of Wynn Resorts slid after The Wall Street Journal reported that multiple female employees allegedly endured sexual harassment at the hands of the casino chain's founder and Chief Executive Steve Wynn. Staples Chief Executive Shira Goodman is leaving the company, less than a year after the copy shop was taken private in a leveraged buyout, The Wall Street Journal reported. Shares of Colgate-Palmolive declined after the toothpaste maker's quarterly earnings suggested its not immune to the price war that's weakened less specialized rivals such as Procter & Gamble. -Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 26, 2018 16:22 ET (21:22 GMT)