Markets: News  

The stock market has continued its advance in slow fashion. Eight sectors trade in positive territory, but the top-weighted technology sector has narrowed its gain to just 0.1%. On the flip side, energy (+2.4%) is the only group with a gain larger than 0.7%. The sector underperformed yesterday, but it recovered that entire loss shortly after today's open. The energy sector has been a clear stand out so far in 2021. The sector has spiked 6.9% this week, extending its January gain to 16.8%. Thanks to this month's jump, the group is now approaching its June high, but it is still down more than 25.0% since the start of 2020. All 25 components of the energy sector trade firmly in the green with Exxon Mobil (XOM 49.99, +1.57, +3.2%) showing notable strength after Barclays upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight just a day after an upgrade at JP Morgan.