Friday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Services

Looking at the sectors faring best as of midday Friday, shares of Utilities companies are outperforming other sectors, up 1.6%. Within the sector, NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) and American Water Works Co, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 3.0% and 2.8%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLU), which is up 1.7% on the day, and up 1.03% year-to-date. NextEra Energy Inc, meanwhile, is down 13.60% year-to-date, and American Water Works Co, Inc., is down 18.35% year-to-date. Combined, NEE and AWK make up approximately 18.2% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Services sector, higher by 1.0%. Among large Services stocks, PulteGroup Inc (NYSE:PHM) and Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN) are the most notable, showing a gain of 6.2% and 4.5%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Services stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF (IYC), which is up 0.9% in midday trading, and down 31.59% on a year-to-date basis. PulteGroup Inc, meanwhile, is down 25.87% year-to-date, and Lennar Corp, is down 35.90% year-to-date. Combined, PHM and LEN make up approximately 0.7% of the underlying holdings of IYC.

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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 Friday. As you can see, seven sectors are up on the day, while one sector is down.

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