Some of the retail bleeding seems to have stopped, as a slew of retailers posted better-than-expected quarterly results.
American Eagle Outfitters, Dick's Sporting Goods, Urban Outfitters and Wal-Mart all reported results that were above Wall Street's consensus estimates, sending their shares higher despite a broad market sell-off.
It's a much-needed reprieve for the retail sector; the SPDR Retail ETF (XRT) gained 1.3 percent on Thursday. That said, the XRT was still down 0.88 percent for the week, on track to extend its weekly losing streak to five, its longest since 2008.
Retail has been under pressure recently, as retail giants like Macy's, J.C. Penney and Nordstrom missed the mark on their quarterly reports. Last week the XRT fell 4.6 percent and posted its first four-day losing streak since August 2014. It also posted its worst week since early April.
XRT this week