Wednesday Sector Laggards: Energy, Utilities

In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Energy stocks are the worst performing sector, showing a 0.4% loss. Within the sector, Marathon Oil Corp. (Symbol: MRO) and Halliburton Company (Symbol: HAL) are two of the day's laggards, showing a loss of 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively. Among energy ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLE), which is down 0.4% on the day, and up 4.66% year-to-date. Marathon Oil Corp., meanwhile, is down 1.22% year-to-date, and Halliburton Company, is down 0.73% year-to-date. Combined, MRO and HAL make up approximately 3.2% of the underlying holdings of XLE.

The next worst performing sector is the Utilities sector, showing a 0.2% loss. Among large Utilities stocks, Dominion Energy Inc (Symbol: D) and CenterPoint Energy, Inc (Symbol: CNP) are the most notable, showing a loss of 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is down 0.1% in midday trading, and down 7.71% on a year-to-date basis. Dominion Energy Inc, meanwhile, is down 21.85% year-to-date, and CenterPoint Energy, Inc, is down 1.52% year-to-date. Combined, D and CNP make up approximately 6.1% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

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, six sectors are up on the day, while three sectors are down.

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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.