Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) announced that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 3%, but the news so far doesn’t appear to be hurting the retail exchange traded fund (ETF) too much.
The company still managed to beat Wall Street’s expectations, reports Joshua Freed for the Associated Press, and its shares rose in midday trading. Best Buy’s CFO says they’re planning for a "soft consumer environment in the near-term." The Retail HOLDRs (RTH) were up slightly in trading today.
On Tuesday the retail sector started the second quarter off on a high note, sending related ETFs higher. A decline in commodity prices, along with better-than-anticipated economic data gave the S&P Retail index a 5.8% jump, reports Andria Cheng for MarketWatch.
The dollar gained strength and shares of oil and gold weakened. Soaring commodity prices were the main reason retailers were suffering, as the sector has lost 20% in the past year. Although there was a rally, retail shares may still continue to be a casualty of closed wallets as energy prices remain high.
RTH closed trading yesterday up 4.1%; SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) finished up 4.6%. Today, both funds showed minimal movement.
For full disclosure, some of Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of RTH.
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