In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Utilities stocks are the best performing sector, up 0.6%. Within that group, NRG Energy Inc (Symbol: NRG) and Constellation Energy Corp (Symbol: CEG) are two of the day’s stand-outs, showing a gain of 3.6% and 3.1%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLU), which is up 0.9% on the day, and up 11.63% year-to-date. NRG Energy Inc, meanwhile, is up 48.64% year-to-date, and Constellation Energy Corp is up 77.15% year-to-date. Combined, NRG and CEG make up approximately 7.9% of the underlying holdings of XLU.

The next best performing sector is the Industrial sector, up 0.1%. Among large Industrial stocks, Emerson Electric Co. (Symbol: EMR) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (Symbol: NCLH) are the most notable, showing a gain of 3.8% and 2.5%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Industrial stocks is the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI), which is down 0.2% in midday trading, and up 9.20% on a year-to-date basis. Emerson Electric Co., meanwhile, is up 15.03% year-to-date, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, is down 20.18% year-to-date. EMR makes up approximately 1.6% 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 Wednesday. As you can see, two sectors are up on the day, while seven sectors are down.

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Also see:

• UPLD Videos
• ADBE shares outstanding history
• SPY shares outstanding history

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