In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Technology & Communications stocks are the worst performing sector, not showing much of a gain. Within that group, Akamai Technologies Inc (Symbol: AKAM) and Cisco Systems Inc (Symbol: CSCO) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 11.4% and 4.4%, respectively. Among technology ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLK), which is down 0.3% on the day, and up 4.70% year-to-date. Akamai Technologies Inc, meanwhile, is down 0.43% year-to-date, and Cisco Systems Inc is up 4.39% year-to-date. Combined, AKAM and CSCO make up approximately 2.4% of the underlying holdings of XLK.
The next worst performing sector is the Utilities sector, up 0.2%. Among large Utilities stocks, FirstEnergy Corp (Symbol: FE) and AES Corp. (Symbol: AES) are the most notable, showing a loss of 2.4% and 2.1%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is up 0.1% in midday trading, and up 0.86% on a year-to-date basis. FirstEnergy Corp, meanwhile, is up 5.00% year-to-date, and AES Corp. is up 16.88% year-to-date. Combined, FE and AES make up approximately 4.1% 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, eight sectors are up on the day, while none of the sectors are down.
| Sector | % Change |
|---|---|
| Energy | +1.9% |
| Financial | +0.5% |
| Services | +0.4% |
| Consumer Products | +0.3% |
| Healthcare | +0.3% |
| Utilities | +0.2% |
| Industrial | +0.2% |
| Materials | +0.2% |
| Technology & Communications | -0.0% |
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
