Friday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Technology & Communications

The best performing sector as of midday Friday is the Utilities sector, losing just 0.4%. Within the sector, Duke Energy Corp (Symbol: DUK) and Consolidated Edison Inc (Symbol: ED) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 0.9% and 0.5%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLU), which is down 0.4% on the day, and up 11.07% year-to-date. Duke Energy Corp, meanwhile, is up 7.44% year-to-date, and Consolidated Edison Inc is up 1.89% year-to-date. Combined, DUK and ED make up approximately 10.3% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Technology & Communications sector, losing just 0.4%. Among large Technology & Communications stocks, Adobe Inc (Symbol: ADBE) and Broadcom Inc (Symbol: AVGO) are the most notable, showing a gain of 14.6% and 3.5%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Technology & Communications stocks is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is up 0.3% in midday trading, and up 18.42% on a year-to-date basis. Adobe Inc, meanwhile, is down 11.88% year-to-date, and Broadcom Inc is up 56.19% year-to-date. Combined, ADBE and AVGO make up approximately 7.7% of the underlying holdings of XLK.

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, none of the sectors are up on the day, while nine sectors are down.

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