Looking at the sectors faring best as of midday Friday, shares of Energy companies are outperforming other sectors, up 2.4%. Within that group, Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE: SWN) and Range Resources Corp (NYSE: RRC) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 12.8% and 6.2%, respectively. Among energy ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLE), which is up 1.3% on the day, and up 11.69% year-to-date. Southwestern Energy Company, meanwhile, is up 69.20% year-to-date, and Range Resources Corp is up 60.46% year-to-date. Combined, SWN and RRC make up approximately 1.3% of the underlying holdings of XLE.
The next best performing sector is the Financial sector, higher by 1.2%. Among large Financial stocks, SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) and Comerica, Inc. (NYSE: CMA) are the most notable, showing a gain of 5.6% and 4.3%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Financial stocks is the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF), which is up 0.9% in midday trading, and down 0.66% on a year-to-date basis. SunTrust Banks, Inc., meanwhile, is down 1.17% year-to-date, and Comerica, Inc. is up 6.42% year-to-date. Combined, STI and CMA make up approximately 1.0% 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 Friday. As you can see, seven sectors are up on the day, while two sectors are down.
| Sector | % Change |
|---|---|
| Energy | +2.4% |
| Financial | +1.2% |
| Utilities | +0.8% |
| Materials | +0.6% |
| Industrial | +0.5% |
| Consumer Products | +0.2% |
| Healthcare | +0.1% |
| Services | -0.2% |
| Technology & Communications | -0.5% |
