Friday Sector Leaders: Energy, Utilities
In afternoon trading on Friday, Energy stocks are the best performing sector, higher by 0.8%. Within that group, ConocoPhillips (Symbol: COP) and Schlumberger Ltd (Symbol: SLB) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 2.1% and 2.0%, respectively. Among energy ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLE), which is up 1.0% on the day, and up 62.00% year-to-date. ConocoPhillips, meanwhile, is up 64.64% year-to-date, and Schlumberger Ltd is up 58.63% year-to-date. Combined, COP and SLB make up approximately 8.9% of the underlying holdings of XLE.
The next best performing sector is the Utilities sector, losing just 0.3%. Among large Utilities stocks, AES Corp (Symbol: AES) and American Water Works Co, Inc. (Symbol: AWK) are the most notable, showing a gain of 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is down 0.3% in midday trading, and up 4.74% on a year-to-date basis. AES Corp, meanwhile, is down 6.93% year-to-date, and American Water Works Co, Inc., is down 16.91% year-to-date. Combined, AES and AWK make up approximately 4.0% of the underlying holdings of XLU.
Comparing these stocks and ETFs on a trailing twelve month basis, below is a relative stock price performance chart, with each of the symbols shown in a different color as labeled in the legend at the bottom:
Here’s a snapshot of how the S&P 500 components within the various sectors are faring in afternoon trading on Friday. As you can see, one sector is up on the day, while eight sectors are down.
Sector % Change Energy +0.8% Utilities -0.3% Industrial -0.7% Consumer Products -1.0% Materials -1.1% Financial -1.2% Services -1.3% Healthcare -1.4% Technology & Communications -1.8%
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