Featured MNV Articles:

Tuesday Sector Leaders: Materials, Technology & Communications

Play Video: The Importance of ETFs If the video does not load after a few moments, Upgrade to the Latest Flash Player.

Free Email Alerts By Stock: Get Dividend Alerts Get SEC Filing Alerts

Looking at the sectors faring best as of midday Tuesday, shares of Materials companies are outperforming other sectors, up 3.0%. Within the sector, Celanese Corp (NYSE:CE) and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 7.8% and 6.2%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLB), which is up 2.8% on the day, and down 6.19% year-to-date. Celanese Corp, meanwhile, is down 6.39% year-to-date, and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold, is down 9.85% year-to-date. Combined, CE and FCX make up approximately 7.5% of the underlying holdings of XLB.

The next best performing sector is the Technology & Communications sector, higher by 2.8%. Among large Technology & Communications stocks, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) are the most notable, showing a gain of 12.1% and 9.1%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Technology & Communications stocks is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is up 2.5% in midday trading, and down 20.45% on a year-to-date basis. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., meanwhile, is down 30.56% year-to-date, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, is down 28.53% year-to-date. AMD makes up approximately 1.9% of the underlying holdings of XLK.

Start slideshow:
10 ETFs With Stocks That Insiders Are Buying »

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