Friday, December 07, 2007

A Quick Look Sector by Sector

The market has rallied dramatically, as we indeed seem to be in a wide, rangebound mode. Which sectors are participating most in the strength? Here are the percentages of stocks trading above their 50-day moving averages, broken down by S&P 500 sector:

Materials: 55%
Industrials: 75%
Consumer Discretionary: 35%
Consumer Staples: 85%
Utilities: 97%
Energy: 79%
Health Care: 69%
Financial: 57%
Technology: 38%

Utilities are generating interest for safety and yield; consumer staples continue to outperform consumer discretionary in the face of a slowing economy. Financials have strengthened, and the big change is that technology is now lagging. Perhaps this is reflecting weaker growth prospects for tech due to that slowing economy.

Shout out to Decision Point for the helpful data. Here's my earlier look at the market turnaround by sectors.