Utilities sector vs S&P 500 (XLU): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, XLU has outperformed the S&P 500 by 2.0 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.
Where XLU sits on the rotation map
Utilities 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.
XLU vs SPY: head-to-head returns
XLU (utilities) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means XLU won that window.
Data as of 2026-07-13 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Utilities (XLU) has just turned the corner. Over the longer, time-shifted window it trailed the S&P 500 by 12.1 points, but over the past month it has moved clearly ahead of the market — a 2.0-point edge that puts it in the improving quadrant. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #25 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, XLU's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. XLU'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 Utilities Select Sector SPDR, whose 31 tracked holdings are led by NEXTERA ENERGY INC, SOUTHERN CO and DUKE ENERGY CORP. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 24.5× earnings and 3.5× sales. The thing to watch from here is confirmation: improving groups that hold a positive one-month spread long enough for the longer window to turn are the classic early-rotation entries — the ones that fail fall back quickly.
What's inside XLU
Top 10 of 31 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.
Utilities vs the market — common questions
Is utilities outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, yes: over the past month XLU has outperformed the S&P 500 by 2.0 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is XLU?
XLU is Utilities Select Sector SPDR, the fund Zensei uses to measure the utilities group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
Which stocks are in XLU?
XLU's largest tracked positions are NEXTERA ENERGY INC, SOUTHERN CO, DUKE ENERGY CORP, CONSTELLATION ENERGY CORP, AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER CO INC — 31 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is available with a free Zensei account.
What quadrant is utilities in right now?
As of the latest daily data, utilities is in the improving quadrant — behind the market over the longer window, but ahead over the past month. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track utilities 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.