One bright spot in the bank sector on Friday, however, was Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N, which rallied after posting a bigger-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter profit. The bellwether lender also warned that soaring inflation, the looming threat of Omicron and trading revenues would challenge industry growth in coming months. For consumer stock weakness, James pointed to "clearly disappointing" retail sales, which dropped 1.9% last month due to shortages of goods and an explosion of COVID-19 infections.