Looking at the sectors faring worst as of midday Thursday, shares of Healthcare companies are underperforming other sectors, showing a 1.6% loss. Within that group, ResMed Inc. (Symbol: RMD) and Becton, Dickinson & Co (Symbol: BDX) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 13.5% and 8.7%, respectively. Among healthcare ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLV), which is down 0.9% on the day, and up 4.56% year-to-date. ResMed Inc., meanwhile, is up 13.83% year-to-date, and Becton, Dickinson & Co, is down 4.30% year-to-date. Combined, RMD and BDX make up approximately 2.8% of the underlying holdings of XLV.

The next worst performing sector is the Energy sector, showing a 1.6% loss. Among large Energy stocks, Marathon Oil Corp. (Symbol: MRO) and HollyFrontier Corp (Symbol: HFC) are the most notable, showing a loss of 4.8% and 4.6%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Energy stocks is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), which is down 1.0% in midday trading, and down 36.53% on a year-to-date basis. Marathon Oil Corp., meanwhile, is down 57.70% year-to-date, and HollyFrontier Corp, is down 49.78% year-to-date. Combined, MRO and HFC make up approximately 1.4% 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 Thursday. As you can see, five sectors are up on the day, while four sectors are down.

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

Source: Nasdaq