In afternoon trading on Thursday, Utilities stocks are the best performing sector, up 0.8%. Within that group, FirstEnergy Corp (Symbol: FE) and American Electric Power Co Inc (Symbol: AEP) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 9.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLU), which is up 0.8% on the day, and down 0.32% year-to-date. FirstEnergy Corp, meanwhile, is up 15.42% year-to-date, and American Electric Power Co Inc, is down 2.76% year-to-date. Combined, FE and AEP make up approximately 6.5% of the underlying holdings of XLU.
The next best performing sector is the Consumer Products sector, up 0.5%. Among large Consumer Products stocks, LKQ Corp (Symbol: LKQ) and Kraft Heinz Co (Symbol: KHC) are the most notable, showing a gain of 7.0% and 5.1%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Consumer Products stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF (IYK), which is down 0.1% in midday trading, and up 2.50% on a year-to-date basis. LKQ Corp, meanwhile, is up 11.69% year-to-date, and Kraft Heinz Co is up 12.25% year-to-date. KHC makes up approximately 0.8% of the underlying holdings of IYK.
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.
| Sector | % Change |
|---|---|
| Utilities | +0.8% |
| Consumer Products | +0.5% |
| Services | 0.0% |
| Technology & Communications | -0.4% |
| Industrial | -0.4% |
| Healthcare | -0.5% |
| Financial | -0.5% |
| Materials | -1.1% |
| Energy | -2.5% |
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
