Utilities Up As Sector Returns To Investor Favor -- Utilities Roundup

Shares of power-plant operators rose as the sector returned to investors' favor.

After leading the stock market for parts of the bull market, utilities lagged more cyclical sectors in the wake of President Donald Trump's election.

"We continue to like utilities with the reasoning that interest rates likely to remain very low," said Oliver Pursche, chief market strategist at broker dealer Bruderman Brothers. "They have robust balance sheets and energy prices still very low. Everything is playing in their favor right now." Still, Mr. Pursche said there was a risk that a trend from last year, where the utility stocks led the market for the first half of the year and then "fizzled out" in the second half could be repeated.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 23, 2017 16:40 ET (20:40 GMT)