Investors are snapping up shares in US consumer staples stocks such as Coca-Cola and Colgate-Palmolive as they hunt for more defensive areas of the market amid concerns over a potential slowdown in the US economy.
The sector — which also includes other household names such as Kraft Heinz, Procter & Gamble and Walmart — has outperformed the blue-chip S&P 500 index in six of the past eight weeks, according to Bloomberg data.
Last week the S&P 500 consumer staples index notched up its best performance relative to the blue-chip index since March 2020, taking it to its highest ever level, although it has given back some ground in recent days.