It’s been a tough environment for the Utilities Sector.
The ETF Utilities Select Sector SPDR® Fund (NYSE:XLU) has underperformed for months and really stunk it up in recent weeks.
Looking at the chart below, you can see that XLU declined 19% in 2020, tagging its uptrend line at (1) before rallying sharply. Fast forward to today and we can see that XLU declined nearly 15% at (2) while testing its rising trend line and lateral support at (3).
The decline looks to be a bullish setup as long as XLU stays above support at (3). Are stinky Utilities ready to reverse higher?
If Utilities break through support on the downside, $XLU sends a negative message to the S&P 500.