Wednesday Sector Laggards: Utilities, Healthcare

The worst performing sector as of midday Wednesday is the Utilities sector, up 0.3%. Within that group, AES Corp. (NYSE: AES) and Edison International (NYSE: EIX) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLU), which is up 0.3% on the day, and up 13.19% year-to-date. AES Corp., meanwhile, is down 1.65% year-to-date, and Edison International is up 23.03% year-to-date. Combined, AES and EIX make up approximately 5.5% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next worst performing sector is the Healthcare sector, higher by 0.3%. Among large Healthcare stocks, St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: STJ) and Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) are the most notable, showing a loss of 2.2% and 1.9%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Healthcare stocks is the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV), which is up 0.3% in midday trading, and up 2.77% on a year-to-date basis. St. Jude Medical, Inc., meanwhile, is up 0.26% year-to-date, and Tenet Healthcare Corp., is down 8.17% year-to-date. Combined, STJ and THC make up approximately 1.0% 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 Wednesday. As you can see, nine sectors are up on the day, while none of the sectors are down.