Thursday Sector Laggards: Utilities, Technology & Communications

The worst performing sector as of midday Thursday is the Utilities sector, showing a 2.2% loss. Within the sector, Duke Energy Corp (Symbol: DUK) and Eversource Energy (Symbol: ES) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 4.3% and 3.0%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLU), which is down 2.2% on the day, and down 6.07% year-to-date. Duke Energy Corp, meanwhile, is down 4.52% year-to-date, and Eversource Energy, is down 6.81% year-to-date. Combined, DUK and ES make up approximately 11.6% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next worst performing sector is the Technology & Communications sector, showing a 2.0% loss. Among large Technology & Communications stocks, Lumen Technologies Inc (Symbol: LUMN) and Zebra Technologies Corp. (Symbol: ZBRA) are the most notable, showing a loss of 14.1% and 8.6%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Technology & Communications stocks is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is down 2.2% in midday trading, and down 7.74% on a year-to-date basis. Lumen Technologies Inc, meanwhile, is down 12.23% year-to-date, and Zebra Technologies Corp., is down 22.31% year-to-date. ZBRA makes up approximately 0.2% 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 Thursday. As you can see, one sector is up on the day, while eight sectors are down.

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