In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Healthcare stocks are the best performing sector, higher by 0.1%. Within that group, Illumina Inc (NASD: ILMN) and Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE: EW) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 8.0% and 6.5%, respectively. Among healthcare ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLV), which is up 0.1% on the day, and up 4.68% year-to-date. Illumina Inc, meanwhile, is down 15.53% year-to-date, and Edwards Lifesciences Corp is up 46.09% year-to-date. Combined, ILMN and EW make up approximately 1.6% of the underlying holdings of XLV.
The next best performing sector is the Materials sector, losing just 0.3%. Among large Materials stocks, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NASD: GT) and Avery Dennison Corp. (NYSE: AVY) are the most notable, showing a gain of 3.5% and 2.3%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB), which is down 0.4% in midday trading, and up 13.18% on a year-to-date basis. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., meanwhile, is down 11.14% year-to-date, and Avery Dennison Corp. is up 25.90% year-to-date. AVY makes up approximately 1.4% of the underlying holdings of XLB.
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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, one sector is up on the day, while eight sectors are down.
Sector | % Change |
---|---|
Healthcare | +0.1% |
Materials | -0.3% |
Financial | -0.4% |
Consumer Products | -0.7% |
Technology & Communications | -0.8% |
Industrial | -0.9% |
Services | -1.0% |
Utilities | -1.1% |
Energy | -1.9% |