Although the S&P 500 finished in the red on the day, there is one sector reaching fresh 52-week highs: Utilities.The Utes are one of only two sectors higher today (the other being Communication Services), and its leadership is by a wide margin. Whereas Communication Services is only up 0.17%, the Utilities sector is flying with a 2.58% gain.
That big gain is thanks to news that Constellation Energy (CEG) will sell power to Microsoft (MSFT) in order to power its data centers. To generate that power, CEG will be restarting one of its nuclear reactors at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.As shown below, given the news, CEG is the top performer in the sector today with an impressive 21% gain. Vistra (VST) has also benefited and is up 14.3%.Those two stocks are now top performers on the year with total returns of 79.35% for CEG and 142.2% for VST.Of course, the Utilities sector is often considered an income friendly area of the market, but the surges in the price of CEG and VST have dramatically lowered their yields below 1%.That compares to an average yield of over 3% for all members of the sector. The only other Utilities stock with a lower yield is PG&E (PCG) which recently reinstated its dividend after a few rough years dealing with the fallout of being to blame for wildfires in the back half of the 2010s.
As previously mentioned, Constellation Energy (CEG) is at the center of attention today. As shown below, the over 20% gain today erased all of the declines since the spring, leading to a fresh record high. Additionally, today’s gain is the largest one on record since the stock’s inception following a spinoff of Exelon (EXC) in 2021.
Vistra (VST) has likewise returned to new all time highs on today’s surge, surpassing the previous record close from this past May. The 14.5% single day gain as of this writing is remarkable as there is only a single time that the stock rose by more, and that was on July 31st when it rose 14.8% as news of higher energy prices bolstered the Utilities sector.More By This Author:Best And Worst Performers Since 8/5 Going Ex-DividendAltria Group (MO)