As the market is a mere 1.2% away from a new high this year, we thought it would make sense to take a look at which sectors are performing the best and the worst. We’ll use the SPY (S&P 500 ETF) as the benchmark and compare it to the SPDR Sector ETFs.

Best performers over the past 12 months:

• Consumer Discretionary: XLY (+25.3%)
• Technology: XLK (+24.8%)
• Healthcare: XLV (+23.4%)
• Consumer Staples: XLP (21.7%)
• S&P 500 (Benchmark): SPY (+19.6%)

Worst performers of the past 12 months:

• S&P 500 (Benchmark): SPY (+19.6%)
• Financials: XLF (+14.1%)
• Energy: XLE (+9.6%)
• Materials: XLB (+6.3%)

As a general practice, we also like to compare to  some other asset classes. Here’s how equities are holding up against Gold, Treasuries, and the Euro:

• S&P 500 (Benchmark): SPY (+19.6%)
• Long-term Treasuries: TLT (+18.2%)
• Gold: GLD (-7.3%)
• Euro/Dollar: FXE (-14%)