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Wednesday Sector Leaders: Energy, Materials

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The best performing sector as of midday Wednesday is the Energy sector, higher by 4.2%. Within the sector, APA Corp (NASDAQ:APA) and Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE:DVN) are two of the day's stand-outs, showing a gain of 8.6% and 7.7%, respectively. Among energy ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLE), which is up 4.2% on the day, and up 34.47% year-to-date. APA Corp, meanwhile, is up 44.19% year-to-date, and Devon Energy Corp. is up 101.27% year-to-date. Combined, APA and DVN make up approximately 3.1% of the underlying holdings of XLE.

The next best performing sector is the Materials sector, higher by 2.0%. Among large Materials stocks, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) and Albemarle Corp. (NYSE:ALB) are the most notable, showing a gain of 5.0% and 3.9%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB), which is up 1.9% in midday trading, and up 12.99% on a year-to-date basis. Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold, meanwhile, is up 23.52% year-to-date, and Albemarle Corp. is up 53.29% year-to-date. Combined, FCX and ALB make up approximately 7.9% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

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