Thursday Sector Laggards: Financial, Technology & Communications

In afternoon trading on Thursday, Financial stocks are the worst performing sector, showing a 1.0% loss. Within that group, Apollo Global Management Inc (new (Symbol: APO) and Blackstone Inc (Symbol: BX) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 6.2% and 5.7%, respectively. Among financial ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLF), which is down 1.3% on the day, and down 5.26% year-to-date. Apollo Global Management Inc (new, meanwhile, is down 19.09% year-to-date, and Blackstone Inc, is down 17.71% year-to-date. Combined, APO and BX make up approximately 2.1% of the underlying holdings of XLF.

The next worst performing sector is the Technology & Communications sector, showing a 0.9% loss. Among large Technology & Communications stocks, Epam Systems, Inc. (Symbol: EPAM) and ON Semiconductor Corp (Symbol: ON) are the most notable, showing a loss of 20.8% and 4.1%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Technology & Communications stocks is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is down 0.8% in midday trading, and down 2.86% on a year-to-date basis. Epam Systems, Inc., meanwhile, is down 35.19% year-to-date, and ON Semiconductor Corp is up 25.09% year-to-date. Combined, EPAM and ON make up approximately 0.3% 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, two sectors are up on the day, while six sectors are down.

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