Wednesday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Financial

In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Utilities stocks are the best performing sector, higher by 1.6%. Within that group, NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) and Southern Company (NYSE:SO) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 2.7% and 2.7%, 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 1.64% year-to-date. NextEra Energy Inc, meanwhile, is up 5.20% year-to-date, and Southern Company is up 0.21% year-to-date. Combined, NEE and SO make up approximately 21.3% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Financial sector, up 0.5%. Among large Financial stocks, Globe Life Inc (NYSE:GL) and UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) are the most notable, showing a gain of 5.4% and 3.0%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Financial stocks is the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF), which is up 0.5% in midday trading, and up 6.18% on a year-to-date basis. Globe Life Inc, meanwhile, is down 47.70% year-to-date, and UnitedHealth Group Inc, is down 7.90% year-to-date. GL makes up approximately 0.1% of the underlying holdings of XLF.

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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 Wednesday. As you can see, five sectors are up on the day, while four sectors are down.