By David Wainer
As market turmoil picks up, industries selling products that consumers rely on regardless of economic conditions are emerging as safe havens.
Healthcare, utilities, and consumer staples rallied, extending their gains for the year as concerns over tariffs and a potential recession mounted. Biogen, Merck, General Mills, McDonald's and Hershey were among the S&P 500's top gainers. In total, just over 100 of the index's members rose Tuesday morning, according to FactSet data.
Meanwhile, a selloff gripped consumer-discretionary stocks such as Royal Caribbean, Best Buy and United Airlines. Over the past five days, the consumer-discretionary, technology and energy sectors have been the S&P 500's weakest, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Even non-discretionary sectors will face challenges if raw material costs go up. Some cost increases will be passed on to consumers, but others will eat into profits. For now, though, investors are seeking safety in the kinds of products and services Americans are likely to stop buying last.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 04, 2025 12:02 ET (17:02 GMT)
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