Growth Leads Sectors In Wednesday Trading As Defensives Trail

Five sectors are higher and six are lower in Wednesday’s regular session, with growth sectors holding two of the top three positions. Technology sits well clear of the next sector, separated by a margin several times wider than any other gap in the table.

Sector	Ticker	Price	Change
Technology	XLK	196.82	+1.19%
Communication Services	XLC	111.94	+0.42%
Energy	XLE	61.76	+0.35%
Consumer Discretionary	XLY	109.43	+0.25%
Materials	XLB	49.22	+0.23%
Health Care	XLV	170.31	-0.25%
Consumer Staples	XLP	81.61	-0.30%
Real Estate	XLRE	41.21	-0.32%
Utilities	XLU	39.58	-0.34%
Financials	XLF	53.83	-0.35%
Industrials	XLI	168.55	-0.35%

Market Snapshot

The major averages are mixed, with the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) up 0.46% and the Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ) up 0.64%, while the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (NYSE:IWM) is up 0.17% and the State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) is down 0.02%. One of the 11 sectors is outpacing the S&P 500.

Leading Sectors

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) +1.19%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is up 2.76%, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) 1.64% and NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) 1.41%.

Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) +0.42%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is up 2.11% and The Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) 0.16%.

Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) +0.35%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, ExxonMobil Holdings Corp (NYSE:XOM) is up 0.76%, Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) 0.03% and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is down 0.06%.

Middle Of The Pack

• Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) +0.25%
• Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) +0.23%
• Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) -0.25%
• Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) -0.30%
• Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) -0.32%

Lagging Sectors

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) -0.34%

Higher so far among the supplied sector readings but trailing the broader sector table. Among the sector’s large-cap names, Southern Co (NYSE:SO) is down 0.25%, while Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK) is up 0.04% and NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) 0.15%.

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) -0.35%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) is down 0.96%, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) 0.75% and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. New Common Stock (NYSE:BRK) 0.35%.

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) -0.35%

Among the sector’s large-cap names, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) is down 1.40%, GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) 1.07% and RTX Corp (NYSE:RTX) 0.03%.

Cross-Sector Takeaway

The 1.54-point spread between Technology and Financials and Industrials is more than twice the largest move among the major averages, which range from down 0.02% to up 0.64%. The mixed major averages mask a session where leadership has narrowed to Technology alone. Defensives are not keeping pace — all four defensive sectors sit in the bottom half of the table — so the advance is concentrated rather than broad.

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