Utilities Down as Rotation Out of Sector Continues -- Utilities Roundup

Shares of power-plant operators fell as a rotation out of the sector continued. The gap in performance between the SPDR Select Sector Utility exchange-traded fund, which tracks the Standard & Poor's 500 utility sector, and the broad market has widened in recent weeks as the sector falls out of favor with fixed-income investors drawn to rising Treasury yields. The utility sector could benefit from trillions of dollars in investment in renewable energy in the coming years, according to one brokerage. "Cleantech" will be the number one energy investment opportunity of our time, said analysts at brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research. "Green technology has the potential to deliver 30-40 Gigatons of carbon dioxide in emission reductions per annum by about 2030," said the BofA analysts.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 21, 2017 16:41 ET (21:41 GMT)