A globetrotting portfolio may help diversify away from domestic equities, but U.S. consumer staples sector and related exchange traded funds may continue to outpace foreign consumer brands.
Despite slowing down over the past month, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLP) has outpaced international consumer companies over the past year, rising 22.0%. In contrast, the iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF (NYSEArca: KXI), which includes a 53.8% U.S. exposure, rose 13.8% over the past year while the SPDR S&P International Consumer Staples Sector ETF (NYSEArca: IPS) gained 5.4%. [Greater Demand, Lower Input Costs to Drive Consumer ETFs]
Fueling the growth in the U.S., companies are finding that slow growth overseas are cutting into sales. For instance, Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), a mainstay consumer staples brand, is looking back at domestic markets after enjoying years of overseas growth, Bloomberg reports.
Coca-Cola makes up 4.9% of KXI and 9.1% of XLP.
The soft-drink producer revealed that North American sales increased 2% over the fourth quarter, the largest domestic growth in two years, whereas sluggish overseas economies and a strong U.S. dollar cut into international sales. Specifically, Coca-Cola saw Asian sales experience the worst drop, followed by Europe.
“European markets have a difficult environment that they’re operating in,” Chief Financial Officer Kathy Waller said in the article. “Emerging markets are seeing the same kind of issues with the macroeconomic environment.”
The rising U.S. consumer confidence is contributing to increased sales back at home. Meanwhile, emerging market expectations are being tempered as growth begins to slow, according to Jack Russo, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co.
“We got spoiled — we’re used to some pretty good growth numbers coming out of these various locations,” Russo said, arguing that North America is increasingly important. “We are seeing the U.S. economy improve.”
The more pessimistic international growth sentiment is also mirrored among global institutions. For instance, the International Monetary Fund in January downwardly revised its world economic outlook to 3.5% this year and 3.7% next year, compared to its previous 3.8% and 4.0%, respectively, Ansuya Harjani reported for CNBC. On the other hand, the U.S. was the only major economy to receive an upward revision to growth.
Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR
For more information on the consumer sector, visit our consumer staples category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.