Friday Sector Leaders: Materials, Utilities

The best performing sector as of midday Friday is the Materials sector, up 0.1%. Within the sector, LyondellBasell Industries NV (Symbol: LYB) and Nucor Corp. (Symbol: NUE) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 3.9% and 2.7%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLB), which is up 0.2% on the day, and down 8.85% year-to-date. LyondellBasell Industries NV, meanwhile, is up 13.54% year-to-date, and Nucor Corp. is up 20.21% year-to-date. Combined, LYB and NUE make up approximately 6.9% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

The next best performing sector is the Utilities sector, losing just 0.1%. Among large Utilities stocks, NRG Energy Inc (Symbol: NRG) and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc (Symbol: PEG) are the most notable, showing a gain of 1.8% and 0.7%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is down 0.3% in midday trading, and down 1.52% on a year-to-date basis. NRG Energy Inc, meanwhile, is down 10.24% year-to-date, and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc, is down 0.54% year-to-date. Combined, NRG and PEG make up approximately 4.3% 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, one sector is up on the day, while eight sectors are down.

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