Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, Americans have persistently reported dejected sentiment despite the economy chugging along. However, the sour mood is finally a thing of the past as price pressures have begun to wane amid strength in the labor market. Sentiments across all age groups and geographical locations brightened up as the economy’s resilience squashed apprehension over an imminent recession.

The University of Michigan recently stated that the initial reading of its consumer sentiment index came in at 78.8 in January from December’s reading of 69.7, and way more than economists’ expectations of a preliminary reading of 70.0. Notably, the index has achieved its highest reading this month since July 2021. The index has now advanced for the second month and skyrocketed almost 60% after tanking to record lows in June 2022. Encouragingly, the survey’s readings on one-year inflation projections declined.

Additionally, the Conference Board reported that the consumer confidence index came in at 110.7 in December, way higher than November’s revised reading of 101, and above economists’ estimate of a reading of 104.5. The index has now risen the most since the beginning of 2021. The survey further conveyed that American’s expectations about business conditions over the next six months improved, while they remain optimistic about the current economic scenario.

Consumers, thus, are now more self-assured about their well-being, and with prices of indispensable goods and services cooling down, consumer outlays are widely expected to pick up. In reality, sales at U.S. retailers already rose in November and December, signifying a robust holiday shopping season as employers continued to hire and wages improved (read more: 5 Stocks to Gain From Healthy End-of-Year Retail Sales).

Now, with consumers opening up their purses, consumer discretionary stocks are poised to gain this year. The demand for nonobligatory products and services is expected to pick up, which calls for investing in stocks such as GIII Apparel Group GIII, Acushnet GOLF, Hooker Furniture HOFT, Netflix NFLX and Royal Caribbean Cruises RCL.

These stocks flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). Such stocks also boast a VGM Score of A or B. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum, and the score is a weighted combination of these three metrics. Such a score allows you to eliminate the negative aspects of stocks and select winners. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.