Investors eye consumer discretionary stocks as US reopens

NEW YORK: Investors are taking a closer look at the market’s consumer discretionary companies as a reopening U.S. economy fuels hopes of a turnaround for some of the sector’s hardest-hit names.

Many companies in the sector have been battered by the country-wide coronavirus-fueled lockdowns that have weighed on growth and damaged retail spending over the last several months, though the stocks of a few, like Amazon, have soared.

A gradual lifting of lockdowns in some states has stirred hopes for a bounce back for the retailers that make up much of the sector.