Tobacco Companies Slide -- Consumer Roundup

Shares of consumer companies declined, after a surprise move by the Food and Drug Administration caused a rout in tobacco shares.

U.S. health officials said they were considering new standards that would require tobacco companies to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to nonaddictive levels. Marlboro maker Altria Group was down by more than 9%, while British American Tobacco, which recently bought major American brands including Camel and Winston cigarettes, tumbled 7%.

Shares of Mattel plummeted after the toy maker's quarterly earnings lagged Wall Street targets.

The University of Michigan said its gauge of consumer sentiment during July was 93.4, up from a preliminary reading of 93.1 but down from 95.1 in June.

American Airlines Group's profit fell in the second quarter, but the carrier posted brisk growth in unit revenue, an important per-seat measure of growth.

Weakness in Amazon.com's earnings report, which was primarily related to higher spending, also weighed on the retail sector.

-By Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2017 18:14 ET (22:14 GMT)