Looking at the sectors faring best as of midday Thursday, shares of Utilities companies are outperforming other sectors, higher by 2.0%. Within that group, Exelon (NYSE: EXC) and AES (NYSE: AES) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 4.1% and 3.8%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLU), which is up 2.0% on the day, and up 22.33% year-to-date. Exelon, meanwhile, is up 37.50% year-to-date, and AES, is down 3.38% year-to-date. Combined, EXC and AES make up approximately 7.2% of the underlying holdings of XLU.
The next best performing sector is the Healthcare sector, higher by 1.5%. Among large Healthcare stocks, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and AmerisourceBergen (NYSE: ABC) are the most notable, showing a gain of 8.2% and 6.0%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Healthcare stocks is the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV), which is up 1.8% in midday trading, and up 22.02% on a year-to-date basis. Bristol-Myers Squibb, meanwhile, is up 12.93% year-to-date, and AmerisourceBergen is up 21.19% year-to-date. Combined, BMY and ABC make up approximately 4.5% of the underlying holdings of XLV.
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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 Thursday. As you can see, eight sectors are up on the day, while one sector is down.
| Sector | % Change |
|---|---|
| Utilities | +2.0% |
| Healthcare | +1.5% |
| Industrial | +1.1% |
| Materials | +1.0% |
| Consumer Products | +0.9% |
| Services | +0.8% |
| Financial | +0.8% |
| Technology & Communications | +0.4% |
| Energy | -0.2% |
