Wednesday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Technology & Communications

The best performing sector as of midday Wednesday is the Utilities sector, higher by 0.6%. Within that group, Evergy Inc (Symbol: EVRG) and Pinnacle West Capital Corp (Symbol: PNW) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 1.4% and 1.4%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLU), which is up 0.5% on the day, and down 6.68% year-to-date. Evergy Inc, meanwhile, is down 6.87% year-to-date, and Pinnacle West Capital Corp is up 4.00% year-to-date. Combined, EVRG and PNW make up approximately 2.3% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Technology & Communications sector, up 0.3%. Among large Technology & Communications stocks, ON Semiconductor Corp (Symbol: ON) and Arista Networks Inc (Symbol: ANET) are the most notable, showing a gain of 4.4% and 3.2%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Technology & Communications stocks is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is up 0.2% in midday trading, and up 13.09% on a year-to-date basis. ON Semiconductor Corp, meanwhile, is up 33.31% year-to-date, and Arista Networks Inc is up 21.97% year-to-date. Combined, ON and ANET make up approximately 0.8% of the underlying holdings of XLK.

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

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