The Consumer Staples sector has been going steady this year after declining for two years in a row. As of Jul 3, the S&P 500 Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (ARCA:XLP) was up 7.7%. While the sector has not matched up to market expectations that consumer spending would go up by leaps and bounds, it has held fort if compared to consumer discretionary stocks. Stock trading in 2024 has been widely impacted by apprehensions about the Fed not bringing down rates as promised. While tech and mega-cap growth stocks have done well despite this gloom, investors also seem to have shown increased interest in defensive stocks. The defensive nature of these stocks ensures that market volatility does not have a lasting impact on the sector. Consumer staples may not have the highest earnings growth or year-over-year revenue growth but the sector has experienced relatively little disruption historically. These stocks make up for modest growth with low price volatility, ...