P&G stock leads the Dow’s losers as debt-ceiling optimism turns investors away from safety of consumer staples

Shares of Procter & Gamble Co.
PG,
-1.67%
slumped 1.6% toward a 2 1/2-month low in midday trading, enough to pace the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s
DJIA,
-0.49%
decliners, as optimism over a debt-ceiling deal took investors’ focus away from the safety of the consumer staples sector. The stock of P&G, which is the parent of staples brands such as Tide, Pampers, Tampax and Gillette, was falling as the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund shed
XLP,
-1.18%
1.2% as 34 of its 37 equity components lost ground. Among some of the ETF’s biggest decliners, shares of discount retailer Target Corp.
TGT,
-3.08%
dropped 2.7% and snacks giant Mondelez International Inc.
MDLZ,
-2.69%
slid 2.5%. That compared with the 0.6% gain in Consumer Discretionary Select Sector ETF
XLY,
+0.36%,
which was led by the 4.9% rally in Ford Motor Co.’s stock
F,
+4.67%
and Tesla Inc. shares’
TSLA,
+2.99%
3.9% jump.