Friday Sector Laggards: Healthcare, Utilities

In afternoon trading on Friday, Healthcare stocks are the worst performing sector, not showing much of a gain. Within that group, Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE: UHS) and Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively. Among healthcare ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLV), which is down 0.1% on the day, and up 16.94% year-to-date. Universal Health Services, Inc., meanwhile, is up 34.63% year-to-date, and Tenet Healthcare Corp. is up 44.02% year-to-date. Combined, UHS and THC make up approximately 0.7% of the underlying holdings of XLV.

The next worst performing sector is the Utilities sector, higher by 0.3%. Among large Utilities stocks, PPL Corp (NYSE: PPL) and Pepco Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POM) are the most notable, showing a loss of 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is up 0.3% in midday trading, and up 13.06% on a year-to-date basis. PPL Corp, meanwhile, is up 12.46% year-to-date, and Pepco Holdings Inc. is up 44.90% year-to-date. Combined, PPL and POM make up approximately 5.5% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

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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, eight sectors are up on the day, while none of the sectors are down.