Consumer Companies Flat on Deal Activity, Spending Data -- Consumer Roundup

Shares of retailers and other consumer companies were flat, bucking weakness in the broad market, on deal activity and strong spending data.

Shares of Dr Pepper Snapple Group rose after the maker of Keurig coffee machines agreed to buy the soft-drink maker for $19 billion in cash. Investment firm JAB, which controls Keurig, has already spent more than $40 billion over the past decade on coffee makers and U.S. restaurant chains, including Peet's Coffee, Panera Bread and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.

Personal-consumption expenditures, a measure of household spending on everything from cellphones to groceries, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in December from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Monday.

In another sign that consumers' appetite for spending is increasing, the savings rate fell to its lowest level in about a decade.

Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2018 17:47 ET (22:47 GMT)