Monday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Consumer Products

In afternoon trading on Monday, Utilities stocks are the best performing sector, higher by 1.2%. Within that group, Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE: PEG) and Entergy (NYSE: ETR) are two of the day's stand-outs, showing a gain of 2.2% and 1.9%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLU), which is up 1.2% on the day, and up 22.62% year-to-date. Public Service Enterprise Group, meanwhile, is up 29.40% year-to-date, and Entergy is up 36.46% year-to-date. Combined, PEG and ETR make up approximately 6.2% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Consumer Products sector, up 0.7%. Among large Consumer Products stocks, Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) and Hasbro (NASD: HAS) are the most notable, showing a gain of 5.1% and 4.2%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Consumer Products stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF (IYK), which is up 0.5% in midday trading, and up 10.44% on a year-to-date basis. Tyson Foods, meanwhile, is up 28.44% year-to-date, and Hasbro is up 5.40% year-to-date. Combined, TSN and HAS make up approximately 0.9% of the underlying holdings of IYK.

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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 Monday. As you can see, five sectors are up on the day, while four sectors are down.