Wednesday Sector Leaders: Technology & Communications, Services

The best performing sector as of midday Wednesday is the Technology & Communications sector, up 2.0%. Within that group, Epam Systems, Inc. (Symbol: EPAM) and Ceridian HCM Holding Inc (Symbol: CDAY) are two of the day's stand-outs, showing a gain of 7.5% and 5.7%, respectively. Among technology ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLK), which is up 2.6% on the day, and down 23.07% year-to-date. Epam Systems, Inc., meanwhile, is down 44.71% year-to-date, and Ceridian HCM Holding Inc, is down 35.15% year-to-date. Combined, EPAM and CDAY make up approximately 0.4% of the underlying holdings of XLK.

The next best performing sector is the Services sector, up 1.4%. Among large Services stocks, Netflix Inc (Symbol: NFLX) and Match Group Inc (Symbol: MTCH) are the most notable, showing a gain of 6.6% and 6.6%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Services stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF (IYC), which is up 1.8% in midday trading, and down 25.39% on a year-to-date basis. Netflix Inc, meanwhile, is down 50.27% year-to-date, and Match Group Inc, is down 62.22% year-to-date. NFLX makes up approximately 2.8% of the underlying holdings of IYC.

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:

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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 one sector is down.

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