Consumer Stocks Dip As Digital Competition Concerns Linger - Consumer Roundup

Shares of retailers and other consumer-services companies declined amid continued concern about the impact of shopping trends on stores of all sizes. Shares of Mattel slid after a lackluster holiday season for the toy maker, which counts department stores among its main distributors. "Retailers are under pressure from ecommerce competition as consumers continue to shift towards online shopping," said analysts at brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research. "We are seeing this phenomenon through a decline in retail payrolls, specifically at general merchandise (department) stores. The changing landscape of the retail industry will likely lead to a long-term structural shift in the supply and demand for labor, threatening to displace a cohort of workers." A federal judge ordered Volkswagen to pay a $2.8 billion criminal fine for rigging diesel-powered vehicles to cheat on government emissions tests.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2017 16:34 ET (20:34 GMT)