Wednesday Sector Leaders: Energy, Utilities

In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Energy stocks are the best performing sector, up 0.9%. Within the sector, APA Corp (Symbol: APA) and Diamondback Energy, Inc. (Symbol: FANG) are two of the day’s stand-outs, showing a gain of 3.4% and 2.6%, respectively. Among energy ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLE), which is up 0.9% on the day, and down 6.01% year-to-date. APA Corp, meanwhile, is down 32.22% year-to-date, and Diamondback Energy, Inc., is down 19.79% year-to-date. Combined, APA and FANG make up approximately 2.3% of the underlying holdings of XLE.

The next best performing sector is the Utilities sector, losing just 0.5%. Among large Utilities stocks, Eversource Energy (Symbol: ES) and Duke Energy Corp (Symbol: DUK) are the most notable, showing a gain of 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is down 0.6% in midday trading, and up 2.80% on a year-to-date basis. Eversource Energy, meanwhile, is up 3.42% year-to-date, and Duke Energy Corp is up 13.26% year-to-date. Combined, ES and DUK make up approximately 9.7% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

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.

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Also see:

? XMPT Average Annual Return
? WEN Average Annual Return
? MTG Dividend History

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.