Tuesday Sector Leaders: Materials, Financial

In afternoon trading on Tuesday, Materials stocks are the best performing sector, higher by 1.0%. Within that group, Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE) and Nucor Corp. (NYSE:NUE) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 8.3% and 4.8%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLB), which is up 0.8% on the day, and up 17.79% year-to-date. Sealed Air Corp, meanwhile, is up 18.91% year-to-date, and Nucor Corp. is up 69.56% year-to-date. Combined, SEE and NUE make up approximately 3.6% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

The next best performing sector is the Financial sector, higher by 0.5%. Among large Financial stocks, Franklin Resources Inc (NYSE:BEN) and Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) are the most notable, showing a gain of 6.5% and 4.8%, 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 24.75% on a year-to-date basis. Franklin Resources Inc, meanwhile, is up 30.07% year-to-date, and Vornado Realty Trust is up 29.70% year-to-date. BEN makes up approximately 0.2% 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 Tuesday. As you can see, two sectors are up on the day, while six sectors are down.