Friday Sector Leaders: Materials, Energy

The best performing sector as of midday Friday is the Materials sector, up 1.0%. Within the sector, Celanese Corp (Symbol: CE) and Howmet Aerospace Inc (Symbol: HWM) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 5.7% and 3.9%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLB), which is up 0.3% on the day, and up 7.49% year-to-date. Celanese Corp, meanwhile, is down 0.25% year-to-date, and Howmet Aerospace Inc is up 21.80% year-to-date. CE makes up approximately 0.8% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

The next best performing sector is the Energy sector, up 0.8%. Among large Energy stocks, Valero Energy Corp (Symbol: VLO) and APA Corp (Symbol: APA) are the most notable, showing a gain of 3.0% and 2.3%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Energy stocks is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), which is up 0.8% in midday trading, and up 5.56% on a year-to-date basis. Valero Energy Corp, meanwhile, is up 11.02% year-to-date, and APA Corp is up 0.71% year-to-date. Combined, VLO and APA make up approximately 3.6% of the underlying holdings of XLE.

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, seven sectors are up on the day, while two sectors are down.

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