Thursday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Consumer Products

Looking at the sectors faring best as of midday Thursday, shares of Utilities companies are outperforming other sectors, losing just 0.4%. Within that group, Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc (NYSE:PEG) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 0.9% and 0.5%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLU), which is down 0.4% on the day, and down 5.69% year-to-date. Eversource Energy, meanwhile, is down 21.80% year-to-date, and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc is up 1.11% year-to-date. Combined, ES and PEG make up approximately 5.4% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Consumer Products sector, losing just 0.8%. Among large Consumer Products stocks, Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE:HRL) and Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) are the most notable, showing a gain of 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Consumer Products stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF (IYK), which is down 0.6% in midday trading, and down 2.50% on a year-to-date basis. Hormel Foods Corp., meanwhile, is down 12.05% year-to-date, and Kraft Heinz Co, is down 12.63% year-to-date. Combined, HRL and KHC make up approximately 1.8% of the underlying holdings of IYK.

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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 Thursday. As you can see, none of the sectors are up on the day, while nine sectors are down.