Thursday Sector Leaders: Utilities, Materials

In afternoon trading on Thursday, Utilities stocks are the best performing sector, up 0.6%. Within that group, Wisconsin Energy (NYSE: WEC) and DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) are two of the day's stand-outs, showing a gain of 1.1% and 1.1%, respectively. Among utilities ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLU), which is up 0.6% on the day, and up 14.94% year-to-date. Wisconsin Energy, meanwhile, is up 10.98% year-to-date, and DTE Energy is up 19.10% year-to-...