when an economy is growing many sectors see stock values increase and this can make equities attractive the higher values are due to increasing profits and more discretionary consumer income 
the stock shares of consumer discretionary companies tend to lead a general stock market decline at the beginning of a contraction investing in consumer discretionariesmany investors like to put their money into sector exchange traded funds etfs to navigate through different types of economic cycles etfs can limit risks with broadened diversification while allowing for the concentration of investment positions for the consumer discretionary sector state street global advisors ssga offers one of the market s top options the consumer discretionary select sector spdr fund xly includes the s p 500 s consumer discretionary stocks its top five holdings as of january 2023 were the following 4for those interested in the consumer staples sector the ssga offers the consumer staples select sector spdr fund xlp it includes the s p 500 s consumer staples stocks its top five holdings as of january 2023 were the following 5the demand for consumer discretionary stocks normally increases or decreases as the economy grows or weakens and since consumers typically purchase non essential goods when they have discretionary income anything else that threatens that income such as lower wages or increasing prices may also affect stock values here are several widely recognized consumer discretionary stocks in addition to those mentioned above the consumer discretionary sector consists of a variety of industries that can be sensitive to changing economic conditions and bellwethers of consumer spending the companies included in these industries react and adjust to changes in consumer discretionary income and purchases of non essential products and services industry performance is a useful gauge of trends in consumer spending consumer discretionary industries tend to thrive when people feel confident about income and spending is strong the consumer discretionary sector s manufacturing segment includes automotive household durable goods textiles apparel and leisure equipment the services segment includes hotels restaurants and leisure facilities media production and related services and consumer retailing and services here are the industries in the consumer discretionary sector 