Materials sector vs S&P 500 (XLB): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, XLB has underperformed the S&P 500 by 2.2 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.
Where XLB sits on the rotation map
Materials highlighted against the 11 broad S&P 500 sectors. Vertical: 1-month spread vs the S&P 500. Horizontal: the longer, time-shifted window — the methodology explains the math.
XLB vs SPY: head-to-head returns
XLB (materials) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means XLB won that window.
Data as of 2026-08-28 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Materials (XLB) is losing its lead. It built a 4.5-point advantage over the S&P 500 across the longer, time-shifted window, but over the past month it has slipped 2.2 points behind the market — the Cooling quadrant of the rotation map. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #68 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, XLB's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. XLB's relative-strength line is holding around its moving averages — the trend is intact but no longer extending. The longer trend remains healthier than the recent tape suggests — the kind of divergence worth rechecking in a week.
The exposure comes via Materials Select Sector SPDR, whose 25 tracked holdings are led by LINDE PLC, NEWMONT CORP and FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 40.9× earnings and 3.4× sales. The thing to watch from here is whether this is a pause or a handoff: cooling groups sometimes reset and reclaim leadership, but a deepening one-month deficit usually means rotation has moved on.
What's inside XLB
Top 10 of 25 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.
Materials vs the market — common questions
Is materials outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, no: over the past month XLB has underperformed the S&P 500 by 2.2 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is XLB?
XLB is Materials Select Sector SPDR, the fund Zensei uses to measure the materials group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
Which stocks are in XLB?
XLB's largest tracked positions are LINDE PLC, NEWMONT CORP, FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC, SHERWIN-WILLIAMS CO, ECOLAB INC — 25 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is available with a free Zensei account.
What quadrant is materials in right now?
As of the latest daily data, materials is in the Cooling quadrant — still ahead over the longer window, but behind the market over the past month. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track materials against the whole market
Zensei Edge maps 100+ sectors and themes against the S&P 500 — with the stocks inside each one, rotation history and alerts when leadership changes hands.