A retail sector exchange traded fund rose more than 1% Tuesday despite the sell-off in shares of holdings Talbots (NYSE: TLB) and Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY).
Retail HOLDRS (AMEX: RTH) added 1.1% at last check even though Talbots shares plunged nearly 40% and Pep Boys slid almost 20%.
Investors punished Talbots after the women’s clothing retailer reported disappointing results and forecast further weakness in sales.
Separately, automotive service chain Pep Boys after Monday’s closing bell was out with quarterly earnings that missed Wall Street expectations.
The retail sector ETF is fractionally negative so far in 2011.