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Friday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Consumer Products

This article is more than 9 years old.

In afternoon trading on Friday, Utilities stocks are the best performing sector, losing just 0.6%. Within that group, CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) and PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLU), which is down 0.6% on the day, and down 6.04% year-to-date. CenterPoint Energy, Inc, meanwhile, is down 9.45% year-to-date, and PG&E Corp. , is down 1.27% year-to-date. Combined, CNP and PCG make up approximately 6.2% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Consumer Products sector, losing just 1.1%. Among large Consumer Products stocks, Mattel Inc (NASD: MAT) and Reynolds American Inc (NYSE: RAI) are the most notable, showing a gain of 6.0% and 0.6%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Consumer Products stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF (IYK), which is down 1.0% in midday trading, and up 1.97% on a year-to-date basis. Mattel Inc, meanwhile, is down 12.21% year-to-date, and Reynolds American Inc is up 17.24% year-to-date. Combined, MAT and RAI make up approximately 1.5% 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 Friday. As you can see, none of the sectors are up on the day, while nine sectors are down.

Sector % Change
Utilities -0.6%
Consumer Products -1.1%
Materials -1.1%
Healthcare -1.3%
Industrial -1.4%
Financial -1.5%
Technology & Communications -1.6%
Energy -1.6%
Services -1.8%