Retail Stocks Flash Bearish Signal on Oil, U.S. Spending Pause
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Retail stocks are trailing the broader market as the plunge in oil prices shows signs of coming to an end.
The SPDR Standard & Poor’s Retail Exchange-Traded Fund -- made up of more than 100 companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. -- has fallen 0.4 percentage point since April 2, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF has risen 2.3 percentage points -- see chart. That follows a 10-month rally when the retail group outpaced the benchmark fund by 12 percentage points. The retail ETF closed at $100.80 on April 23, while the benchmark ETF was at $211.16.