Tuesday Sector Laggards: Technology & Communications, Energy

The worst performing sector as of midday Tuesday is the Technology & Communications sector, showing a 1.0% loss. Within the sector, Applied Materials, Inc. (Symbol: AMAT) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (Symbol: AMD) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 5.7% and 5.4%, respectively. Among technology ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLK), which is down 1.5% on the day, and up 3.67% year-to-date. Applied Materials, Inc., meanwhile, is up 16.09% year-to-date, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc is up 11.56% year-to-date. Combined, AMAT and AMD make up approximately 4.5% of the underlying holdings of XLK.

The next worst performing sector is the Energy sector, showing a 0.9% loss. Among large Energy stocks, Valero Energy Corp (Symbol: VLO) and Marathon Petroleum Corp. (Symbol: MPC) are the most notable, showing a loss of 3.1% and 2.8%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Energy stocks is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), which is down 0.7% in midday trading, and up 1.38% on a year-to-date basis. Valero Energy Corp, meanwhile, is up 4.88% year-to-date, and Marathon Petroleum Corp. is up 10.84% year-to-date. Combined, VLO and MPC make up approximately 7.2% of the underlying holdings of XLE.

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 Tuesday. As you can see, two sectors are up on the day, while five sectors are down.

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