Cyclicals Top Sectors In Wednesday Trading As Defensives Trail

Five sectors are higher and six are lower in Wednesday’s regular session, with cyclical sectors holding two of the top three positions alongside Technology. The leaders are separated rather than clustered, with no single gap clearly standing apart from the other breaks across the table.

Prices as of 11:00 a.m. ET; quotes delayed 15 minutes.

Market Snapshot

The major averages are mixed, with the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) up 0.26% and the Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ) 0.83%, while the State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) is down 0.04% and the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (NYSE:IWM) is up 0.37%. Five of the 11 sectors outpace the S&P 500.

Leading Sectors

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) +1.17%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) is up 1.76%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) 1.00% and Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) 0.22%.

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) +0.59%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) is up 1.08%, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) 0.78% and Union Pacific Corp (NYSE:UNP) 0.59%.

Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) +0.47%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, SLB Ltd (NYSE:SLB) is up 1.98%, Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) 0.47% and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) 0.23%.

Middle Of The Pack

• Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) +0.44%
• Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) +0.38%
• Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) -0.01%
• Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) -0.35%
• Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) -0.51%

Lagging Sectors

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) -0.55%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) is down 0.61%, Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) 0.48% and Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) 0.16%.

Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) -0.80%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is down 1.74%, AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) 1.64% and Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) 1.18%.

Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) -0.93%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) is down 4.72% and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) 2.47%.

Cross-Sector Takeaway

The 2.10-point spread between Technology and Communication Services is more than twice the largest move among the major averages, which range from down 0.04% to up 0.83%. The major averages are mixed, masking a session where leadership is concentrated in Technology, Industrials and Energy. Defensives are not keeping pace — Real Estate sits fourth from the bottom and Health Care is down 0.80% — so the advance is concentrated rather than broad.

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