Wednesday Sector Leaders: Consumer Products, Utilities

In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Consumer Products stocks are the best performing sector, up 0.1%. Within that group, McCormick & Co Inc (Symbol: MKC) and General Mills Inc (Symbol: GIS) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 2.8% and 2.7%, respectively. Among consumer products ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF (Symbol: IYK), which is up 0.4% on the day, and down 7.09% year-to-date. McCormick & Co Inc, meanwhile, is down 21.88% year-to-date, and General Mills Inc, is down 18.76% year-to-date. Combined, MKC and GIS make up approximately 2.7% of the underlying holdings of IYK.

The next best performing sector is the Utilities sector, not showing much of a loss. Among large Utilities stocks, NextEra Energy Inc (Symbol: NEE) and CMS Energy Corp (Symbol: CMS) are the most notable, showing a gain of 2.0% and 0.9%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is up 0.2% in midday trading, and down 13.90% on a year-to-date basis. NextEra Energy Inc, meanwhile, is down 31.23% year-to-date, and CMS Energy Corp, is down 12.80% year-to-date. Combined, NEE and CMS make up approximately 14.7% 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, one sector is up on the day, while seven sectors are down.

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