Thursday Sector Laggards: Materials, Technology & Communications

The worst performing sector as of midday Thursday is the Materials sector, showing a 0.8% loss. Within that group, International Paper Co (Symbol: IP) and Mosaic Co (Symbol: MOS) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 12.2% and 3.4%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLB), which is down 0.6% on the day, and up 4.67% year-to-date. International Paper Co, meanwhile, is down 25.29% year-to-date, and Mosaic Co is up 15.30% year-to-date. Combined, IP and MOS make up approximately 4.2% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

The next worst performing sector is the Technology & Communications sector, not showing much of a gain. Among large Technology & Communications stocks, Fiserv Inc (Symbol: FI) and Oracle Corp (Symbol: ORCL) are the most notable, showing a loss of 6.6% and 4.8%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Technology & Communications stocks is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is down 0.5% in midday trading, and up 30.64% on a year-to-date basis. Fiserv Inc, meanwhile, is down 67.90% year-to-date, and Oracle Corp is up 58.49% year-to-date. ORCL makes up approximately 3.2% 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, seven sectors are up on the day, while one sector is down.

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