Monday Sector Leaders: Financial, Materials

In afternoon trading on Monday, Financial stocks are the best performing sector, up 1.0%. Within that group, Citigroup Inc (Symbol: C) and Synchrony Financial (Symbol: SYF) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 3.5% and 3.1%, respectively. Among financial ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLF), which is up 1.1% on the day, and up 26.66% year-to-date. Citigroup Inc, meanwhile, is up 27.47% year-to-date, and Synchrony Financial is up 50.88% year-to-date. Combined, C and SYF make up approximately 2.2% of the underlying holdings of XLF.

The next best performing sector is the Materials sector, higher by 1.0%. Among large Materials stocks, Albemarle Corp. (Symbol: ALB) and Steel Dynamics Inc. (Symbol: STLD) are the most notable, showing a gain of 4.9% and 4.5%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB), which is up 0.7% in midday trading, and up 12.02% on a year-to-date basis. Albemarle Corp., meanwhile, is down 31.30% year-to-date, and Steel Dynamics Inc. is up 15.82% year-to-date. Combined, ALB and STLD make up approximately 3.4% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

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 Monday. As you can see, eight sectors are up on the day, while one sector is down.

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