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Looking at the sectors faring best as of midday Thursday, shares of Utilities companies are outperforming other sectors, up 1.1%. Within that group, NRG Energy Inc (Symbol: NRG) and Vistra Corp (Symbol: VST) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 7.5% and 3.2%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLU), which is up 1.0% on the day, and up 12.87% year-to-date. NRG Energy Inc, meanwhile, is up 59.18% year-to-date, and Vistra Corp is up 139.56% year-to-date. Combined, NRG and VST make up approximately 4.5% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Services sector, higher by 1.0%. Among large Services stocks, Booking Holdings Inc (Symbol: BKNG) and News Corp (Symbol: NWS) are the most notable, showing a gain of 3.1% and 2.7%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Services stocks is the iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF (IYC), which is up 0.8% in midday trading, and up 5.47% on a year-to-date basis. Booking Holdings Inc, meanwhile, is up 6.62% year-to-date, and News Corp, is down 0.04% year-to-date. Combined, BKNG and NWS make up approximately 2.4% of the underlying holdings of IYC.

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, eight sectors are up on the day, while one sector is down.

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