Wednesday Sector Laggards: Services, Materials

Looking at the sectors faring worst as of midday Wednesday, shares of Services companies are underperforming other sectors, showing a 0.9% loss. Within that group, News Corp (Symbol: NWS) and Dollar General Corp (Symbol: DG) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 5.2% and 4.3%, respectively. Among the largest ETFs, one ETF closely following services stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF (Symbol: IYC), which is down 0.1% on the day, and up 9.34% year-to-date. News Corp, meanwhile, is up 8.26% year-to-date, and Dollar General Corp is up 32.84% year-to-date. Combined, NWS and DG make up approximately 0.4% of the underlying holdings of IYC.

The next worst performing sector is the Materials sector, showing a 0.8% loss. Among large Materials stocks, Corteva Inc (Symbol: CTVA) and Vulcan Materials Co (Symbol: VMC) are the most notable, showing a loss of 8.6% and 2.4%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB), which is down 1.1% in midday trading, and up 6.85% on a year-to-date basis. Corteva Inc, meanwhile, is up 9.43% year-to-date, and Vulcan Materials Co is up 17.30% year-to-date. Combined, CTVA and VMC make up approximately 8.8% 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 Wednesday. As you can see, four sectors are up on the day, while four sectors are down.

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