Wednesday Sector Laggards: Utilities, Materials

In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Utilities stocks are the worst performing sector, showing a 0.5% loss. Within that group, PG&E Corp (Symbol: PCG) and Sempra (Symbol: SRE) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 1.8% and 1.3%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLU), which is down 0.6% on the day, and up 25.81% year-to-date. PG&E Corp, meanwhile, is up 8.32% year-to-date, and Sempra is up 12.58% year-to-date. Combined, PCG and SRE make up approximately 8.0% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next worst performing sector is the Materials sector, showing a 0.3% loss. Among large Materials stocks, Albemarle Corp. (Symbol: ALB) and Avery Dennison Corp (Symbol: AVY) are the most notable, showing a loss of 3.3% and 3.1%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB), which is down 0.5% in midday trading, and up 9.89% on a year-to-date basis. Albemarle Corp., meanwhile, is down 39.07% year-to-date, and Avery Dennison Corp is up 6.85% year-to-date. Combined, ALB and AVY make up approximately 2.7% 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, seven sectors are up on the day, while two sectors are down.

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Also see:

• AAOI market cap history
• BCAB Average Annual Return
• GGN Dividend History