U.S. stock indexes dropped on Friday as Sino-U.S. tensions weighed on markets struggling to gauge the pace of economic recovery from the coronavirus. President Donald Trump's statement on China's plan for a national security law in Hong Kong on Thursday raised concerns over Washington and Beijing possibly reneging on their Phase-1 trade deal. The three main U.S. stock indexes have kept to a tight range in May, but are still on course for weekly gains between 2.5% and 2.8%.

In this episode of MarketFoolery, Chris Hill and Motley Fool analyst Ron Gross discuss all things retail. To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center. Ron Gross: Good to see you, Mr. Chris Hill.

IBD Stock Of The Day: Tractor Supply broke out to a buy zone after the farm supply retailer reported faster Q1 growth and a very strong coronavirus outlook.

Stock prices are signalling better economic growth ahead, but bond yields point to a deep downturn. They’re both right, this analyst argues.

Selling pressure was caused by concerns that consumer spending will be slow as the coronavirus continues to spread.

In this article you are going to find out whether hedge funds think The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is a good investment right now. We like to check what the smart money thinks first before doing extensive research on a given stock. Although there have been several high profile failed hedge fund picks, the consensus […]

U.S. stock indexes moved in a flat-to-low range on Friday as simmering Sino-U.S. tensions weighed on markets struggling to gauge the pace of economic recovery from the coronavirus. President Donald Trump's rhetoric against China's plan for a national security law in Hong Kong on Thursday raised concerns over Washington and Beijing reneging on their phase-1 trade deal.

Soaring e-commerce demand offset the chain's deliberate efforts to reduce traffic at its stores.

Discover how Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is winning in the retail space and some other retail news. To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center. Jason Moser: Good to see you.

Wall Street ended mixed on Friday in a mostly tame finish to a week of strong gains, as investors gauged China-U.S. tensions and amid ongoing uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery from the coronavirus. President Donald Trump's warning on Thursday that the U.S. would react strongly to China's plan for a national security law in Hong Kong has raised concerns over Washington and Beijing's possibly reneging on their Phase 1 trade deal. Late in the session, stocks edged lower after the U.S. Commerce Department said it was adding 33 Chinese companies and other institutions to an economic blacklist for human rights violations and to address U.S. national security concerns.

The market’s least-volatile stocks look very different today than they did just three months ago, thanks to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Exchange-traded funds with exposure to homebuilders and housing market companies roared higher Tuesday after a surprise gain in sales of newly-constructed homes confirmed sturdy demand even in the face of the coronavirus-induced shutdown. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF was 4% higher at midday, while the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF jumped 3.6%. The portfolios of both funds are heavy with consumer discretionary stocks like Home Depot Inc. \- it's XHB's biggest holding - in addition to builders like Lennar Corp. . The Hoya Capital Housing ETF , a fund designed to more broadly reflect the residential real estate industry with exposure to REITs like American Homes 4 Rent and brokerages like Redfin Corp. , was 3.9% higher.

Big-box chains will gobble up even more business from struggling smaller chains. That bodes well for their shares.

Wall Street was mixed on Friday in a mostly tame finish to a week of strong gains, as investors gauged China-U.S. tensions and amid ongoing uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery from the coronavirus. President Donald Trump's warning on Thursday that the U.S. would react strongly to China's plan for a national security law in Hong Kong has raised concerns over Washington and Beijing's possibly reneging on their Phase 1 trade deal. The rhetoric knocked Wall Street off multi-month highs, although the main indexes were still set to add over 2% for the week, fueled by optimism about an eventual coronavirus vaccine and the easing of virus-related curbs.

Is the e-commerce and cloud giant a better overall investment than the resilient home improvement retailer?

These are the consumer discretionary stocks with the best value, fastest growth, and most momentum for June 2020.

Yahoo Finance chats with Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner about the state of the world's large retailer amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. stock indexes moved in a flat-to-low range on Friday as investors gauged Sino-U.S. tensions amid continued uncertainty over the pace of economic recovery from the coronavirus. President Donald Trump's warning on Thursday that the U.S. would react strongly to China's plan for a national security law in Hong Kong raised concerns over Washington and Beijing possibly reneging on their Phase-1 trade deal. The rhetoric knocked Wall Street off multi-month highs, although the main indexes were still set to add between 2.8% and 3.1% for the week on optimism over a vaccine and the easing of virus-related curbs.

Q1 2020 Home Depot Inc Earnings Call

Do-it-yourself home improvement retail rivals Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) reported first-quarter results last week. Here's how some of the Street's top analysts reacted to the reports.The Home Depot Analysts Piper Sandler analyst Peter Keith maintained a Neutral rating on Home Depot, price target lifted from $231 to $244.BofA Securities analyst Elizabeth Suzuki maintained at Neutral, price target lifted from $238 to $250.Raymond James analyst Matthew McClintock maintained at Outperform, price target lifted from $245 to $250.Piper Sandler's Key Takeaways On Home Depot Home Depot reported a "strong" first-quarter report, highlighted by a comp growth beat of 6.4%, while comps accelerated to double-digits in May, Keith said in a note.The company saw some incremental expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it also showed strong underlying expense leverage, the analyst said. Looking forward, Home Depot doesn't expect to report negative comps in any quarter in 2020 as it benefits from consumers spending less money on restaurants, travel and entertainment, he said. Piper Sandler's revised $244 price target is based on expectations for the company to establish itself as a beneficiary of increasing spending on home categories, even if the U.S. remains in a recession for the rest of the year, Keith said.A Neutral stance remains in place for valuation reasons, according to Piper Sandler. BofA Says Home Depot's Strong Comps Won't Last Home Depot's comp growth of 6.4% in the first quarter exceeded expectations of 5% as average ticket rose 11%, Suzuki said in a note. The company likely benefited from consumers "being stuck at home" and spending money on home improvement projects, the analyst said. Some of the purchases were likely pulled forward as more consumers return to work in the second and third quarters and any stimulus benefits will "wear off," she said.The expectations for momentum seen in the first quarter are not likely to last moving forward, according to BofA. Raymond James: Doing More In A 'Tough Environment'Home Depot deserves credit for shifting a business of its size to serve customer needs, such as contactless curbside pickup, McClintock said in a note. The company is also heavily focusing on digital, and this will serve as a competitive advantage moving forward, the analyst said. The retailer did a good job at managing its expenses while simultaneously investing "aggressively" in its One Home Depot strategic initiatives and its workers, he said. "Bigger picture, we believe HD is well positioned to outperform in what will likely be a tough environment over the next several quarters, and has a large share gain opportunity longer-term as independents fall by the wayside." View more earnings on HDRelated Link: Walmart Earnings Look Strong Across the Board, But Home Depot Down After Missing on EPSThe Lowe's Analysts BofA Securities analyst Elizabeth Suzuki maintained at Buy, price target lifted from $137 to $143.KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Bradley Thomas maintained at Overweight, price target lifted from $125 to $130.BofA: 5 Reasons To Own The Stock Exiting Lowe's first-quarter report, there are five reasons to own the stock, Suzuki said in a note.These include:1\. There was "a lot to like" in the report, including an EPS beat, comp growth of 11.2% versus the Street's estimate of 4.1% and operating margin expansion of 206 basis points.2\. Lowe's has superior exposure to the do-it-yourself customer, who represents 75% to 80% of total sales versus Home Depot's 40% to 45%. By comparison, the Pro market was negatively impacted by social distancing requirements.3\. The online business saw an 80% year-over-year sales growth and it has plenty of room to continue expanding off its current low base.4\. Incremental COVID-related costs won't disrupt the long-term margin story after Lowe's already eliminated underperforming assets and made other strategic moves.5\. Demand for renovation products should remain a trend for the coming years.Lowe's Has Sustainable Momentum, KeyBanc Says Lowe's first-quarter momentum sustained into May, with a double-digit comp across all regions, Thomas said in a note.The retailer did choose to withdraw its outlook, although it kept a confident tone in its ability to improve gross margins and continue SG&A leverage, the analyst said. The company is considered to be "one of the strongest retailers" within KeyBanc's coverage given a compelling "self-help story" under CEO Marvin Ellison, he said. "We believe shares are compelling given the fundamental growth opportunity for the Company, and expect shares to see multiple expansion if execution continues to improve." Related Link: PreMarket Prep Stock Of The Day: Lowe's CompaniesLatest Ratings for HD DateFirmActionFromTo May 2020Morgan StanleyMaintainsOverweight May 2020StifelMaintainsBuy May 2020WedbushMaintainsNeutral View More Analyst Ratings for HD View the Latest Analyst RatingsSee more from Benzinga * Back To The Roots Announces Home Depot Partnership Amid Surge In Interest(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.