Shares of retailers and other consumer companies rallied as traders bet the Omicron variant of Covid-19 would not be a major threat to the resurgence in travel and consumer spending.
Many investors piled back into the "reopening trade."
The U.S. Global JETS exchange-traded fund, which tracks a basket of major airlines, rose by more than 5% and, at one stage, was logging its biggest gain since November 2020. Similarly, shares of cruise line Royal Caribbean Group and hotelier Marriott rose.
Activist investor Engine Capital is urging department-store chain Kohl's to consider a sale of the company or a separation of its e-commerce business. The move echoes a similar initiative from investment firm Jana in Kohl's rival Macy's.
Jack in the Box is buying Del Taco Restaurants for $455 million, a deal that ties up two West Coast fast-food chains. U.S. scheduled passenger airline profit jumped to $2.7 billion in the third quarter, up from $1 billion in the second quarter and an $11.8 billion loss for the same period a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-06-21 1724ET
