In afternoon trading on Thursday, Energy stocks are the best performing sector, higher by 4.1%. Within that group, Devon Energy Corp. (Symbol: DVN) and Schlumberger Ltd (Symbol: SLB) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 7.2% and 6.5%, respectively. Among energy ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLE), which is up 3.9% on the day, and up 43.68% year-to-date. Devon Energy Corp., meanwhile, is up 51.33% year-to-date, and Schlumberger Ltd is up 25.14% year-to-date. Combined, DVN and SLB make up approximately 7.1% of the underlying holdings of XLE.
The next best performing sector is the Materials sector, higher by 1.6%. Among large Materials stocks, DuPont (Symbol: DD) and Albemarle Corp. (Symbol: ALB) are the most notable, showing a gain of 3.9% and 3.9%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB), which is up 1.1% in midday trading, and down 10.51% on a year-to-date basis. DuPont, meanwhile, is down 20.65% year-to-date, and Albemarle Corp. is up 15.63% year-to-date. Combined, DD and ALB make up approximately 6.9% 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 Thursday. As you can see, eight sectors are up on the day, while none of the sectors are down.
| Sector | % Change |
|---|---|
| Energy | +4.1% |
| Materials | +1.6% |
| Consumer Products | +1.0% |
| Services | +1.0% |
| Financial | +1.0% |
| Utilities | +0.6% |
| Industrial | +0.6% |
| Healthcare | +0.2% |
| Technology & Communications | 0.0% |
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
