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Thursday Sector Leaders: Materials, Industrial

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The best performing sector as of midday Thursday is the Materials sector, up 1.4%. Within the sector, LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 3.4% and 2.6%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLB), which is up 1.3% on the day, and up 24.33% year-to-date. LyondellBasell Industries NV, meanwhile, is up 2.89% year-to-date, and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold is up 59.15% year-to-date. Combined, LYB and FCX make up approximately 8.4% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

The next best performing sector is the Industrial sector, up 1.2%. Among large Industrial stocks, TransDigm Group Inc (NYSE:TDG) and Fortive Corp (NYSE:FTV) are the most notable, showing a gain of 3.1% and 2.8%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Industrial stocks is the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI), which is up 1.4% in midday trading, and up 19.09% on a year-to-date basis. TransDigm Group Inc, meanwhile, is up 2.37% year-to-date, and Fortive Corp is up 5.87% year-to-date. Combined, TDG and FTV make up approximately 1.9% of the underlying holdings of XLI.

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