5 Consumer Staples Stocks That Are Feeling The Effects Of President Trump's Tariffs
Contrary to conventional wisdom at the time, the stock market's sharp sell-off after President Donald Trump unveiled his "liberation day" tariffs on April 2 was relatively brief, and Wall Street recovered to a series of new highs over the six months that followed. But one segment that didn't benefit much from that tailwind was the typically defensive consumer staples sector. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Trust (NYSEMKT: XLP) -- a benchmark for the sector -- has underperformed the large-cap S&P 500 index by more than 30 percentage points since early April, putting it dead last among the 11 major economic sectors. As of the close of trading on Oct. 3, the consumer staples sector was up by around 0.1% year to date, compared to a 33.7% gain for the S&P 500.
The six-month washout in the staples sector has been sweeping. Only two of the trust's 37 components have outperformed the S&P 500 since the tariff announcements -- Estée Lauder Companies, with its eye-popping 67% rebound, and Archer-Daniels-Midland, which jumped 44%. Otherwise, the slump within the sector has been brutal, with 16 of the trust's 37 stocks down by 10% or more since the tariff period began. The Motley Fool has continued to track what size tariffs Trump is imposing on each U.S. trading partner, but how those import taxes will affect specific American businesses has not yet become fully clear.
Image source: Getty Images.
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