Thursday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Services

Looking at the sectors faring best as of midday Thursday, shares of Utilities companies are outperforming other sectors, up 0.6%. Within that group, Exelon Corp (NASDAQ:EXC) and Pinnacle West Capital Corp (NYSE:PNW) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLU), which is up 0.6% on the day, and down 7.14% year-to-date. Exelon Corp, meanwhile, is down 13.40% year-to-date, and Pinnacle West Capital Corp is up 0.73% year-to-date. Combined, EXC and PNW make up approximately 4.7% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Services sector, up 0.3%. Among large Services stocks, Match Group Inc (NASDAQ:MTCH) and Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ:TSCO) are the most notable, showing a gain of 2.6% and 2.2%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Services stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF (IYC), which is flat on the day in midday trading, and up 35.41% on a year-to-date basis. Match Group Inc, meanwhile, is down 10.56% year-to-date, and Tractor Supply Co., is down 0.78% year-to-date. TSCO makes up approximately 0.4% of the underlying holdings of IYC.

Start slideshow:
10 ETFs With Stocks That Insiders Are Buying »

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, seven sectors are up on the day, while two sectors are down.