Wednesday Sector Leaders: Materials, Energy

The best performing sector as of midday Wednesday is the Materials sector, higher by 1.3%. Within that group, Albemarle Corp. (Symbol: ALB) and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (Symbol: FCX) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 7.7% and 3.6%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLB), which is up 1.0% on the day, and up 9.18% year-to-date. Albemarle Corp., meanwhile, is down 20.40% year-to-date, and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold is up 20.67% year-to-date. Combined, ALB and FCX make up approximately 5.9% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

The next best performing sector is the Energy sector, higher by 1.1%. Among large Energy stocks, APA Corp (Symbol: APA) and Valero Energy Corp (Symbol: VLO) are the most notable, showing a gain of 2.6% and 2.2%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Energy stocks is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), which is up 1.2% in midday trading, and up 2.67% on a year-to-date basis. APA Corp, meanwhile, is down 13.63% year-to-date, and Valero Energy Corp is up 16.91% year-to-date. Combined, APA and VLO make up approximately 3.7% of the underlying holdings of XLE.

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 Wednesday. As you can see, four sectors are up on the day, while five sectors are down.

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