Wednesday Sector Leaders: Energy, Technology & Communications

In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Energy stocks are the best performing sector, up 1.4%. Within that group, Targa Resources Corp (Symbol: TRGP) and Williams Cos Inc (Symbol: WMB) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 3.5% and 3.1%, respectively. Among energy ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLE), which is up 1.1% on the day, and up 3.10% year-to-date. Targa Resources Corp, meanwhile, is up 5.46% year-to-date, and Williams Cos Inc is up 4.67% year-to-date. Combined, TRGP and WMB make up approximately 7.5% of the underlying holdings of XLE.

The next best performing sector is the Technology & Communications sector, up 0.4%. Among large Technology & Communications stocks, Micron Technology Inc. (Symbol: MU) and Palantir Technologies Inc (Symbol: PLTR) are the most notable, showing a gain of 7.3% and 5.8%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Technology & Communications stocks is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is up 1.2% in midday trading, and down 9.28% on a year-to-date basis. Micron Technology Inc., meanwhile, is up 13.55% year-to-date, and Palantir Technologies Inc is up 9.14% year-to-date. Combined, MU and PLTR make up approximately 3.3% 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.

Sector	% Change
Energy	+1.4%
Technology & Communications	+0.4%
Utilities	+0.1%
Financial	-0.1%
Industrial	-0.3%
Materials	-0.3%
Healthcare	-1.1%
Services	-1.2%
Consumer Products	-1.3%