Utilities Fall as 10-Year Treasury Yield Hits 3-Year High -- Utilities Roundup

Shares of power-plant operators fell on concerns about rising interest rates.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury hit its highest level in more than three years.

"[Utilities] have definitely been the laggard; I think it coincides with a lot of the expectations that interest rates are going to increase in 2018," said Joe Bell, senior market strategist at trading research firm Schaeffer's Investment Research. "Utilities are rate sensitive because they tend to pay a lot higher dividends, and, when you see an increase in rates, a lot of those utilities and other high dividend stocks tend to underperform" as their dividend yields draw unfavorable comparisons with Treasury yields from a competitive standpoint, he added.

Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2018 17:08 ET (22:08 GMT)