Friday Sector Laggards: Consumer Products, Utilities

The worst performing sector as of midday Friday is the Consumer Products sector, not showing much of a gain. Within that group, Conagra Brands Inc (Symbol: CAG) and PepsiCo Inc (Symbol: PEP) are two of the day's laggards, showing a loss of 1.8% and 1.8%, respectively. Among consumer products ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF (Symbol: IYK), which is down 0.6% on the day, and up 0.44% year-to-date. Conagra Brands Inc, meanwhile, is down 1.64% year-to-date, and PepsiCo Inc, is down 0.83% year-to-date. Combined, CAG and PEP make up approximately 11.5% of the underlying holdings of IYK.

The next worst performing sector is the Utilities sector, higher by 0.1%. Among large Utilities stocks, Eversource Energy (Symbol: ES) and American Water Works Co, Inc. (Symbol: AWK) are the most notable, showing a loss of 1.5% and 0.6%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is flat on the day in midday trading, and up 1.55% on a year-to-date basis. Eversource Energy, meanwhile, is up 0.38% year-to-date, and American Water Works Co, Inc., is down 0.81% year-to-date. Combined, ES and AWK make up approximately 5.0% 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 Friday. As you can see, eight sectors are up on the day, while none of the sectors are down.

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