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The best performing sector as of midday Thursday is the Consumer Products sector, up 0.5%. Within the sector, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (Symbol: ADM) and Estee Lauder Cos., Inc. (Symbol: EL) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 3.0% and 2.2%, respectively. Among consumer products ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF (Symbol: IYK), which is up 0.9% on the day, and up 7.41% year-to-date. Archer Daniels Midland Co., meanwhile, is down 12.91% year-to-date, and Estee Lauder Cos., Inc., is down 4.55% year-to-date. ADM makes up approximately 1.5% of the underlying holdings of IYK.

The next best performing sector is the Utilities sector, higher by 0.5%. Among large Utilities stocks, Eversource Energy (Symbol: ES) and AES Corp (Symbol: AES) are the most notable, showing a gain of 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is up 0.3% in midday trading, and up 15.65% on a year-to-date basis. Eversource Energy, meanwhile, is up 1.65% year-to-date, and AES Corp is up 12.84% year-to-date. Combined, ES and AES make up approximately 3.1% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

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, four sectors are up on the day, while three sectors are down.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.