Thursday Sector Leaders: Services, Materials

In afternoon trading on Thursday, Services stocks are the best performing sector, higher by 1.1%. Within that group, MGM Resorts International (Symbol: MGM) and Caesars Entertainment Inc (Symbol: CZR) are two of the day's stand-outs, showing a gain of 17.1% and 7.9%, respectively. Among the largest ETFs, one ETF closely following services stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF (Symbol: IYC), which is up 0.5% on the day, and up 4.42% year-to-date. MGM Resorts International, meanwhile, is up 16.12% year-to-date, and Caesars Entertainment Inc is up 14.90% year-to-date. Combined, MGM and CZR make up approximately 0.3% of the underlying holdings of IYC.

The next best performing sector is the Materials sector, up 1.0%. Among large Materials stocks, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (Symbol: FCX) and Albemarle Corp. (Symbol: ALB) are the most notable, showing a gain of 5.0% and 4.4%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB), which is up 1.3% in midday trading, and up 6.69% on a year-to-date basis. Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold, meanwhile, is up 5.09% year-to-date, and Albemarle Corp., is down 7.10% year-to-date. Combined, FCX and ALB make up approximately 6.5% 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, seven sectors are up on the day, while one sector is down.

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Also see:

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.