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Monday Sector Leaders: Materials, Technology & Communications

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The best performing sector as of midday Monday is the Materials sector, up 1.1%. Within that group, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) and CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 5.4% and 5.4%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLB), which is up 1.1% on the day, and up 24.13% year-to-date. Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold, meanwhile, is up 50.92% year-to-date, and CF Industries Holdings Inc is up 63.45% year-to-date. Combined, FCX and CF make up approximately 5.4% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

The next best performing sector is the Technology & Communications sector, higher by 0.7%. Among large Technology & Communications stocks, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) and Xilinx, Inc. (XLNX) are the most notable, showing a gain of 11.5% and 6.4%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Technology & Communications stocks is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is up 0.6% in midday trading, and up 29.88% on a year-to-date basis. Advanced Micro Devices Inc, meanwhile, is up 65.83% year-to-date, and Xilinx, Inc. is up 49.19% year-to-date. Combined, AMD and XLNX make up approximately 1.2% of the underlying holdings of XLK.

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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 Monday. As you can see, five sectors are up on the day, while three sectors are down.