Wednesday Sector Leaders: Financial, Utilities

In afternoon trading on Wednesday, Financial stocks are the best performing sector, losing just 0.7%. Within that group, Ventas (NYSE: VTR) and AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 1.3% and 1.0%, respectively. Among financial ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLF), which is down 0.8% on the day, and up 14.19% year-to-date. Ventas, meanwhile, is up 31.85% year-to-date, and AvalonBay Communities is...