Coca-Cola stays bubbly amid market rout

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were mostly lower on Friday, but consumer staples rose amid the market uncertainty, with beverage giant Coca-Cola Co again lifting the sector.

Coke was up 1.6 percent to $44.55 and on track for a record close. Earlier this week, the Dow component hit a new all-time high, taking out a level that had persisted since 1998. Over the past 20 sessions, it has only dropped five times.

"Investors are seeking to get more defensive, and that means buying high-quality names like Coca-Cola," said David Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York.

The stock has some attributes that could lead to investor caution. More than half of its revenue comes from abroad, according to Thomson Reuters data, which could leave it vulnerable to both global weakness and a stronger U.S. dollar. Earlier this week, PepsiCo Inc warned of "continued macro and political volatility" overseas.

Despite that, Pepsi also posted a strong profit in its most recent quarter and raised its full-year earnings outlook.

"It is true that [large cap multinationals] have more exposure to the dollar, which could be a headwind for some, but if you look at the performance of stocks since the dollar bottomed, there?s been no correlation between international exposure and performance," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Chicago-based Northern Trust Asset Management. "So far, it hasn?t had a headwind."

Coke will report its quarterly results on Oct. 21.

Index snapshot at 11:59 EDT:

* S&P 500 <.SPX> down 5.61 points, or 0.29 percent.

* Nasdaq Comp <.IXIC> down 48.22 points, or 1.1 percent.

* Dow industrials <.DJI> down 0.9 points, or 0.01 percent.

* Russell 2000 <.TOY> down 3.59 points, or 0.34 percent.

* S&P MidCap <.IDX> down 11.27 points, or 0.85 percent.

* S&P SmallCap <.SPCY> down 0.88 points, or 0.14 percent.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski)