Thursday Sector Laggards: Energy, Utilities

Looking at the sectors faring worst as of midday Thursday, shares of Energy companies are underperforming other sectors, showing a 0.4% loss. Within that group, Williams Cos Inc (Symbol: WMB) and Targa Resources Corp (Symbol: TRGP) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively. Among energy ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLE), which is down 0.3% on the day, and up 4.11% year-to-date. Williams Cos Inc, meanwhile, is up 60.09% year-to-date, and Targa Resources Corp is up 108.52% year-to-date. Combined, WMB and TRGP make up approximately 7.5% of the underlying holdings of XLE.

The next worst performing sector is the Utilities sector, showing a 0.1% loss. Among large Utilities stocks, AES Corp (Symbol: AES) and Entergy Corp (Symbol: ETR) are the most notable, showing a loss of 0.7% 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 up 24.16% on a year-to-date basis. AES Corp, meanwhile, is down 29.24% year-to-date, and Entergy Corp is up 53.24% year-to-date. Combined, AES and ETR make up approximately 3.6% 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 Thursday. As you can see, four sectors are up on the day, while three sectors are down.

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Also see:

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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.