Utilities Down as Momentum Continues to Hurt Sector - Utilities Roundup

Shares of power-plant operators continued their recent retreat amid anticipation of rising interest rates. The SPDR Select Sector Utility exchange-traded fund, which tracks the price of the utility sector in the S&P 500, has fallen about 5% for the year to date, a sharp divergence from the broad market as the S&P 500 is up more than 5%. The once sleepy sector became a momentum bet in late 2016 and early 2017 as traders used "bond proxies" to bet on the direction of Treasury rates. Now, with Treasury rates rising, momentum has turned against the utilities.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2018 16:57 ET (21:57 GMT)