News

Looking at the sectors faring worst as of midday Tuesday, shares of Materials companies are underperforming other sectors, showing a 0.5% loss. Within the sector, Albemarle Corp. (Symbol: ALB) and FMC Corp. (Symbol: FMC) are two of the day's laggards, showing a loss of 7.4% and 2.3%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLB), which is down 0.7% on the day, and up 3.23% year-to-date. Albemarle Corp., meanwhile, is down 35.90% year-to-date, and FMC Corp., is down 11.02% year-to-date. Combined, ALB and FMC make up approximately 1.8% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

The next worst performing sector is the Technology & Communications sector, showing a 0.4% loss. Among large Technology & Communications stocks, PTC Inc (Symbol: PTC) and ServiceNow Inc (Symbol: NOW) are the most notable, showing a loss of 6.0% and 3.4%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Technology & Communications stocks is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is down 0.4% in midday trading, and up 21.76% on a year-to-date basis. PTC Inc, meanwhile, is up 0.61% year-to-date, and ServiceNow Inc is up 4.73% year-to-date. Combined, PTC and NOW make up approximately 1.7% 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 Tuesday. As you can see, three sectors are up on the day, while three sectors are down.

Also see:

RLI Videos
Top 10 Hedge Funds Holding Willis Towers Watson Public Ltd
IEUS YTD Return

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