Source: Business Insider
Summary List Placement The travel sector holds the potential for further upside this year following signs of a rotation in consumer spending to services from goods, according to Jefferies. The S&P 500’s consumer discretionary sector rose 0.3% in choppy trade Friday following the release of the Commerce Department’s personal spending and income report for February. The headline figure showed a 1% decline in expenditures, more than the 0.7% fall expected in an Econoday consensus survey. But the report also showed that spending on services edged up by 0.1% during the month, marking a third month of growth, albeit slower than January’s rate of 0.9%. “Within services, spending on air transport and accommodation increased notably. This is a very encouraging sign, suggesting that the vaccination campaign and reopening are having the desired impact on consumer behavior,” Aneta Markowska, chief financial economist at Jefferies, wrote in a note Friday. “We expect much more upside in these sectors in the months ahead.” Some airline stocks were up Friday.
