- A large number of retail stocks are defying the global market sell-off to put in strong gains.
- The unexpected strength follows a few store chains reporting solid holiday sales growth, headlined by L Brands with a stellar 8% comp. The underlying story behind the good read may be that $2 gas prices are helping to feed consumer spending at U.S. store chains.
- Gasbuddy.com forecasts gas prices will stay low in the U.S. for all of 2016.
- Notable gainers include Wal-Mart (WMT +2%), Target (TGT +1%), Gap (GPS +2.3%), Fred's (FRED +1.2%), Express (EXPR +1.1%), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO +1.6%), Tilly's (TLYS +2.3%), Urban Outfitters (URBN +4%), TJX Companies (TJX +0.6%), Ross Stores (ROST +1.6%), Kohl's (KSS +2%), Stein Mart (SMRT +4.4%), Citi Trends (CTRN +1.7%), Buckle (BKE +4.8%).
- Related ETFs: XLP, XLY, VDC, XRT, VCR, RTH, RETL, FXG, FXD, FDIS, RHS, FSTA, RCD, PMR, BITE