SectorsUpdated daily after close · as of 2026-06-18
Sector Relative Strength: All 11 GICS Sectors vs SPY
Each Select Sector SPDR ETF divided by SPY — the relative-strength (RS) line that strips out the market and shows pure leadership. Every line is indexed to 100 at the window start: above 100 means the sector is beating the S&P 500, below means it's lagging. SPY is the flat baseline.
Today's reading
As of market close on June 18, 2026, 2 of the 11 GICS sectors are outperforming SPY over the trailing year. Strongest relative strength: XLK, +33.7 pts vs the index; weakest: XLP, -21.5 pts. Each sector’s RS line is its price divided by SPY — rising means leadership, falling means it’s ceding ground to the market.
Source
Select Sector SPDR ETFs & SPY daily closes
Methodology
Sector ÷ SPY relative-strength ratio, indexed to 100 per window
Updates
Daily after market closeLast: 2026-06-18
Relative strength · 1Y window
Leading SPY
XLKTechnology+26.8%
XLIIndustrials+1.8%
XLEEnergy-2.3%
Lagging SPY
XLPConsumer Staples-17.1%
XLREReal Estate-16.1%
XLCCommunication Services-15.4%
01
Relative strength vs SPY
Window:
Lines above the dashed SPY baseline have outperformed the index since the start of the window; below have lagged. The slope is the signal — a line turning up is gaining relative strength even from below 100.
02
Each sector on its own
The same RS lines, one per panel, sorted strongest to weakest over the 1Y window — so you can read each sector's trend against SPY (dashed) without the clutter.
How Sector Relative Strength Works
- 1Divide each sector by SPYFor every session we divide each Select Sector SPDR ETF’s price by SPY’s price. That ratio — the relative-strength (RS) line — removes the market’s direction and isolates how a sector is doing versus the index. When the whole market rallies, the RS line only rises if the sector rallies more.
- 2Index every line to 100 at the window startRaw ratios aren’t comparable across sectors (XLK/SPY and XLU/SPY live at different absolute levels), so we rebase each RS line to 100 at the start of the window you select. Above 100 means the sector has outperformed SPY since then; below 100 means it has lagged. SPY itself is the flat 100 line.
- 3Rank leaders and laggardsWe sort the sectors by their current relative strength over the window and surface the clearest leaders and laggards, plus a small-multiples grid so you can read each sector’s RS trend on its own. A line that grinds sideways then breaks up is the textbook rotation signal.
- 4Publish a dated, plain-English readingEach update is stamped to the session’s close. Relative strength is a trend and confirmation tool — a sector leading the market is in favor — not a standalone buy or sell signal.
Who Uses Sector Relative Strength
Rotation traders
Spot leadership changing hands — a laggard RS line bottoming and turning up often precedes a multi-month run of sector outperformance.
Trend followers
Favor sectors whose RS line is above 100 and rising; relative strength tends to persist, so today’s leaders are statistically likely to keep leading.
Risk managers
Read the mix: defensive sectors (staples, utilities, health care) gaining relative strength while cyclicals fade is a classic late-cycle, risk-off rotation.
Pro Tips
01
Direction beats level
The RS line’s slope matters more than where it sits. A sector below 100 but turning up is gaining strength; one above 100 but rolling over is losing it. Watch the turn.
02
Relative strength ≠ absolute return
A sector can have a rising RS line while falling in price — it’s just falling less than SPY. RS tells you what to own relative to the index, not whether the market itself is going up.
03
Pair leadership with breadth
Relative strength confirms a trend; it doesn’t time it. Cross-check with sector breadth and health — leadership backed by broad participation is more durable than a narrow, two-stock RS line.
Common Issues & Solutions
How is this different from the Sector Performance page?▾
Sector Performance rebases each sector’s own return to 0% over a window — it answers "who’s up the most." Relative Strength divides each sector by SPY, so SPY is the flat baseline and you see who’s beating the market, not just who’s rising. They’re complementary: absolute vs relative.
The RS line is rising but the sector is down on the day▾
That’s relative strength working as designed. On a down day, a sector that falls less than SPY gains relative strength. RS measures performance against the index, not the absolute price move.
Why index to 100 instead of showing the raw ratio?▾
Raw RS ratios sit at wildly different absolute levels per sector, so they can’t share an axis. Rebasing each to 100 at the window start makes them directly comparable and puts the "beating SPY / lagging SPY" line at exactly 100.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sector relative strength?▾
Relative strength (RS) is a sector’s price divided by a benchmark’s price — here, each GICS sector ETF divided by SPY. The resulting RS line removes the overall market’s direction and shows whether the sector is outperforming or underperforming the S&P 500. A rising RS line means the sector is beating the index; a falling line means it’s lagging.
How do I read the relative-strength chart?▾
Each sector’s RS line is rebased to 100 at the start of the window. Above 100 means the sector has outperformed SPY since then; below 100 means it has lagged. SPY itself is the flat 100 line. The slope is what matters most — a line turning up is gaining relative strength even if it’s still below 100.
How is relative strength different from RSI?▾
They’re unrelated despite the similar name. RSI (the Relative Strength Index) is a momentum oscillator built from a single security’s own gains and losses. Relative strength here is a ratio of one asset to another — sector vs SPY — measuring outperformance, not overbought/oversold momentum.
Which sectors are outperforming the S&P 500 right now?▾
The page ranks all 11 sectors by their current relative strength over the selected window and highlights the leaders (RS above 100 and rising) and laggards (below 100 and falling), updated after every market close. The small-multiples grid shows each sector’s RS trend individually.
Is a rising relative-strength line a buy signal?▾
It’s a confirmation and trend tool, not a standalone signal. Relative strength tends to persist, so leaders often keep leading — but RS measures performance against the index, not the market’s overall direction. Pair it with breadth, sector health, and the absolute trend before acting.
How often is this updated?▾
Daily, after the US market close, alongside the rest of the pipeline. The RS lines are computed from aligned daily closes back to June 2018 — the inception of XLC, the newest GICS sector ETF, which gates how far the 11-sector view can reach.
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Last updated: 2026-06-18