Wednesday Sector Laggards: Healthcare, Financial

In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Healthcare stocks are the worst performing sector, showing a 0.2% loss. Within that group, Perrigo Company (NYSE: PRGO) and Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASD: ALXN) are two of the day's laggards, showing a loss of 2.2% and 2.1%, respectively. Among healthcare ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLV), which is down 0.1% on the day, and up 2.79% year-to-date. Perrigo Company, meanwhile, is down 5.20% year-to-date, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, is down 3.19% year-to-date. Combined, PRGO and ALXN make up approximately 2.2% of the underlying holdings of XLV.

The next worst performing sector is the Financial sector, not showing much of a gain. Among large Financial stocks, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASD: FITB) and HCP (NYSE: HCP) are the most notable, showing a loss of 2.7% and 2.1%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Financial stocks is the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF), which is flat on the day in midday trading, and down 5.44% on a year-to-date basis. Fifth Third Bancorp , meanwhile, is down 13.71% year-to-date, and HCP is up 7.12% year-to-date. Combined, FITB and HCP make up approximately 1.3% of the underlying holdings of XLF.

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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 Wednesday. As you can see, six sectors are up on the day, while one sector is down.