03:27 PM EST, 01/08/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Consumer stocks increased late Wednesday afternoon, with the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) up 0.1% and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) adding 0.3%.

In corporate news, Hershey (HSY) is seeking permission from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to buy more than 90,000 metric tons of cocoa on ICE Futures US, Bloomberg reported. Hershey shares were down 2.1%.