NEW YORK — Stocks continued their rally last week as investors shrugged off concerns over consumer spending.
The S&P 500 ended the week up 2.8 percent to 1,302.30 from 1,266.74 the prior week. The WWD Composite Stock Index closed up 2.2 percent to 1,072.07 from 1,048.81 last week.
Among the specialty retailers that posted positive earnings were Citi Trends Inc. and the TJX Cos. Inc. for the second quarter ended July 29.
Tripling last year’s earnings, Citi Trends posted second-quarter profits of $1.3 million, or 9 cents a share, from $381,000, or 3 cents a share. Sales jumped 28.4 percent to $76.3 million from $59.5 million last year. Same-store sales, which included relocated and expanded stores, increased 7.3 percent on top of a 11.5 percent gain a year ago.
TJX Cos., an off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions, reported a 24.7 percent increase in second-quarter earnings, exceeding Wall Street’s consensus estimate by 2 cents. Second-quarter income rose to $138.2 million, or 29 cents a diluted share, from $110.8 million, or 23 cents, in the same year-ago period. Wall Street had expected 27 cents. Sales were up 9.3 percent to $3.99 billion from $3.65 billion, while consolidated same-store sales increased 4 percent over last year. The retailer operates a number of nameplates, including TJX and Bob’s Stores.
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