The SPDR Consumer Discretionary Select Sector ETF was tumbling 2.6% in midday trade Friday, underperforming both the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF’s 1.3% decline by a wide margin, marking a change from the stock market’s selloff to start the week. Shares of consumer staples companies, which sell products consumers need rather than want, are viewed as defensive, because they tend to outperform discretionary stocks when investors become concerned about an economic slowdown. On Monday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,175 points on worries that a strong economy could push up interest rates the discretionary ETF (XLY) lost 3.4% and the staples ETF (XLP) fell 3.6%. On Thursday, when the Dow tumbled 1,033 points, the XLY lost 1.8% and the XLP slipped 0.7%.
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