Tuesday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Energy

The best performing sector as of midday Tuesday is the Utilities sector, higher by 0.9%. Within that group, Alliant Energy Corp (NASDAQ:LNT) and NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) are two of the day's stand-outs, showing a gain of 2.5% and 2.4%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLU), which is up 1.1% on the day, and up 3.16% year-to-date. Alliant Energy Corp, meanwhile, is down 0.23% year-to-date, and NextEra Energy Inc, is down 20.00% year-to-date. Combined, LNT and NEE make up approximately 15.1% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Energy sector, losing just 0.7%. Among large Energy stocks, Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) and Hess Corp (NYSE:HES) are the most notable, with PSX showing a gain of 0.2% and HES down 0.1%. One ETF closely tracking Energy stocks is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), which is down 0.5% in midday trading, and up 51.75% on a year-to-date basis. Phillips 66, meanwhile, is up 34.13% year-to-date, and Hess Corp is up 58.42% year-to-date. Combined, PSX and HES make up approximately 5.3% of the underlying holdings of XLE.

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