Tags: risk | stocks | U.S. economy | utilities

Utilities, phone companies and consumer staples companies posted the only monthly losses among Standard & Poor’s 500 Index categories in January.

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Phone companies fell 3.9%, utilities dropped 3.7%, and consumer staples stocks declined 1.7%, amid an overall increase of 4.4% in the S&P 500 in January.

The declines reflect a shift by investors toward riskier assets as the economy improves. Last year the three defensive sectors returned more than 6.3% as volatility and economic uncertainty roiled the markets.

While it makes sense for investors to rotate funds out of defensive sectors and into stocks that will benefit from economic growth, some analysts caution that the trend may not continue. The economy may turn down again if Europe’s woes deepen in to recession, which would also negatively affect earnings of multinational companies and send investors back into defensive plays.