Monday Sector Leaders: Technology & Communications, Industrial

The best performing sector as of midday Monday is the Technology & Communications sector, higher by 1.2%. Within that group, KLA Corp (Symbol: KLAC) and Applied Materials, Inc. (Symbol: AMAT) are two of the day’s stand-outs, showing a gain of 5.3% and 5.0%, respectively. Among technology ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLK), which is up 2.1% on the day, and up 17.57% year-to-date. KLA Corp, meanwhile, is up 38.63% year-to-date, and Applied Materials, Inc. is up 36.63% year-to-date. Combined, KLAC and AMAT make up approximately 3.0% of the underlying holdings of XLK.

The next best performing sector is the Industrial sector, higher by 1.1%. Among large Industrial stocks, Lam Research Corp (Symbol: LRCX) and Equifax Inc (Symbol: EFX) are the most notable, showing a gain of 5.5% and 3.2%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Industrial stocks is the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI), which is up 0.8% in midday trading, and up 11.17% on a year-to-date basis. Lam Research Corp, meanwhile, is up 24.00% year-to-date, and Equifax Inc is up 9.00% year-to-date. EFX makes up approximately 0.9% of the underlying holdings of XLI.

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 Monday. As you can see, eight sectors are up on the day, while one sector is down.

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Also see:

• BLTA Insider Buying
• Funds Holding EWG
• NRGY Options Chain

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