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Friday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Financial

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The best performing sector as of midday Friday is the Utilities sector, losing just 0.6%. Within that group, Pinnacle West Capital Corp (NYSE:PNW) and Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED) are two large stocks leading the way, with PNW showing a gain of 0.4% and ED flat on the day. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLU), which is down 0.6% on the day, and up 2.31% year-to-date. Pinnacle West Capital Corp, meanwhile, is up 2.10% year-to-date, and Consolidated Edison Inc, is down 1.76% year-to-date. Combined, PNW and ED make up approximately 4.0% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Financial sector, losing just 0.9%. Among large Financial stocks, Globe Life Inc (NYSE:GL) and Progressive Corp. (NYSE:PGR) are the most notable, showing a gain of 14.5% and 1.1%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Financial stocks is the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF), which is down 1.4% in midday trading, and up 6.92% on a year-to-date basis. Globe Life Inc, meanwhile, is down 53.38% year-to-date, and Progressive Corp. is up 28.97% year-to-date. Combined, GL and PGR make up approximately 2.2% of the underlying holdings of XLF.

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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 Friday. As you can see, none of the sectors are up on the day, while nine sectors are down.