With the economy struggling from elevated prices and the Trump administration's tariffs, circumstances have not been particularly pleasant for consumers. It's no surprise, then, that the S&P Retail Select Industry Index has been a relative underperformer. Since the start of the year, the retail sector benchmark has gained less than 8% — a far cry from the nearly 17% return that the S&P 500 has delivered during the same frame.
Still, some evidence exists that point to the consumer sector making a comeback. In the trailing half-year period, the retail index gained more than 9%. Notably, in the past 30 days, the index swung up over 7%, beating out the S&P 500, which only managed a paltry return of 0.56% in the same window. Even more intriguing, the momentum boost doesn't appear to be solely based on technical noise.
