** Australian consumer stocks .AXSJ rise over 1% to 11,775.3 points to become an outlier in an otherwise falling set of sub-indexes on the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark .AXJO

** Other major sub-indexes on the benchmark including financials .AXFJ, miners .AXMM, and energy stocks .AXEJ all down between 0.7% and 2.4% as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs fuel a global trade war

** Consumer stocks sub-index on track for its highest close since March 28, if the gains sustain

** Grocers Coles Group COL.AX and Woolworths WOW.AX rise as much as 2% and 1.6%, respectively, to their highest since March 4

** Consumer staples sector is "relatively unimpacted by the tariffs," Philip Pepe, senior research analyst at Shaw and Partners says

** Companies providing alternatives to imported goods will be well-positioned, Pepe said, pointing to Coles, Woolworths, Wesfarmers WES.AX, and Metcash MTS.AX

** Australian consumer stocks are down 1% YTD

(Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava and Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

((Adwitiya.Srivastava@thomsonreuters.com))