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Sectors · XLKUpdated daily after close · as of 2026-06-18

XLK Technology Sector: Relative Strength, Trend & Drawdown

A full dashboard for XLK, the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF — its relative strength versus SPY, price against the 50/200-day moving averages, drawdown from all-time highs, stretch from the 200-day, annual returns, and seasonality. Full history back to 1999.

Today's reading

As of market close on June 18, 2026, XLK is leading the S&P 500 by +33.7 pts over the trailing year. Its 50-day moving average sits above the 200-day (a golden-cross uptrend). XLK trades +28.2% from its 200-day average — the 99th percentile of its history since 1999. It sits -3.4% below its June 2, 2026 all-time high. Relative strength is XLK divided by SPY — rising means technology is in favor versus the index, falling means it is ceding leadership.

Source
XLK & SPY daily closes (Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund), 1999+
Methodology
Relative strength (XLK÷SPY), 50/200-day MAs, drawdown, 200-day stretch, annual returns & seasonality
Updates
Daily after market closeLast: 2026-06-18
XLK · technology2026-06-18 · close
$191.44
+3.0%

50-day above the 200-day — a golden-cross uptrend. -3.4% below the all-time high of $198.21 set 2026-06-02.

RS vs SPY · 1Y
+33.7 pts
Drawdown
-3.4%
Stretch · 200d
+28.2%
200-day stretch sits in the 99th percentile since 1999.
Window:
01

XLK relative strength vs SPY

XLK divided by SPY, indexed to 100 at the start of the window. Above 100 means technology is beating the S&P 500; below means it is lagging. +80.1% vs SPY this window.

02

Price & 50/200-day moving averages

XLK price with its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages. The 50d is above the 200d — a golden-cross uptrend.

03

Drawdown from all-time high

How far XLK trades below its running all-time high. The −80%+ dot-com collapse, 2008, and 2022 are all visible — a reminder of technology's downside, not just its compounding.

04

Stretch from the 200-day average

Percent above or below the 200-day moving average — a mean-reversion gauge. XLK currently sits +28.2% from its 200-day, the 99th percentile of its history.

05

Trailing returns: XLK vs SPY

Total return across horizons, and XLK's lead or lag versus the S&P 500.

1D1W1M3M6MYTD1Y3Y5Y
XLK+3.0%+4.5%+10.5%+38.3%+34.3%+33.0%+58.7%+124.3%+169.7%
SPY+0.8%+1.2%+1.8%+13.2%+10.0%+9.5%+25.0%+71.0%+76.0%
Δ vs SPY+2.3+3.3+8.7+25.1+24.3+23.5+33.7+53.3+93.7
06

Annual returns: XLK vs SPY

Calendar-year total return since 1999 (XLK vs SPY). Faded bars are partial years (1999 inception and the current YTD).

07

Monthly seasonality

XLK's average month-over-month return by calendar month over its full history. The small figure under each month is the share of years that month closed positive.

+0.5%Jan48% ↑-0.6%Feb56% ↑+1.1%Mar61% ↑+2.0%Apr64% ↑+2.0%May61% ↑+0.7%Jun54% ↑+1.6%Jul67% ↑+0.7%Aug56% ↑-2.2%Sep48% ↑+2.9%Oct67% ↑+2.7%Nov74% ↑-0.1%Dec56% ↑

How XLK Technology Sector Dashboard Works

  1. 1
    Start with XLK relative to SPY
    The headline chart divides XLK’s price by SPY and rebases it to 100 at the start of the window you pick. A rising line means technology is beating the S&P 500; a falling line means it is lagging. This strips out the market’s direction and isolates pure tech leadership — the line that fell for a decade after the dot-com bust and has trended up since 2010.
  2. 2
    Read the trend against the 50- and 200-day MAs
    The price chart overlays XLK’s 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (log-scale optional). Price above a rising 200-day is an uptrend; the 50-day crossing above the 200-day is a golden cross, below it a death cross. We flag the current regime in plain English.
  3. 3
    Gauge risk with drawdown and the 200-day stretch
    The drawdown chart shows how far XLK sits below its running all-time high — the −82% dot-com collapse and the 2022 reset are visible in one glance. The stretch-from-200-day chart shows how far price has run from its long-term mean, with a historical percentile so you can see when tech is unusually extended or washed out.
  4. 4
    Put today in context: annual returns and seasonality
    We compare XLK’s calendar-year returns to SPY back to 1999, and average every month-over-month return by calendar month to surface technology’s seasonal tendencies. Each reading is dated to the session close — context, not a trade signal.

Who Uses XLK Technology Sector Dashboard

Sector rotators
Use the XLK/SPY relative-strength line to judge whether technology is the place to be overweight right now, or whether leadership is rotating elsewhere.
Trend traders
Track XLK against its 50/200-day MAs and the stretch-from-200-day reading to time entries with the trend and avoid chasing into an overextended move.
Long-term investors
See XLK’s full drawdown history and year-by-year returns versus the S&P 500 to size technology exposure with the downside in plain view, not just the upside.

Pro Tips

01
The relative-strength slope leads
XLK can fall in price while gaining relative strength — it’s just falling less than SPY. The slope of the XLK/SPY line tells you whether tech is the right place to be relative to the index, independent of the market’s direction.
02
Mind the stretch percentile
When XLK’s distance above its 200-day MA sits in the top decile of its own history, forward returns have historically been more muted and pullback risk higher. It’s a context gauge, not a sell signal — strong trends can stay stretched.
03
XLK is top-heavy
A handful of mega-cap names dominate XLK’s weight, so its moves can be driven by two or three stocks. Cross-check leadership with breadth before assuming the whole sector is participating.

Common Issues & Solutions

Why doesn’t XLK match the Nasdaq or QQQ?
XLK is the GICS technology sector only — it excludes names like Amazon (consumer discretionary), Alphabet and Meta (communication services) that QQQ holds. So XLK and QQQ diverge meaningfully despite both being “tech” proxies.
Why does history start in 1999?
The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) launched in December 1998; its first full trading data on file begins in early 1999. That’s the entire life of the fund — including the dot-com bubble and bust.
Relative strength is rising but XLK is down today
That’s relative strength working as designed. On a down day, if XLK falls less than SPY its RS line still rises. RS measures performance against the index, not the absolute price move.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is XLK?
XLK is the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund, an ETF that tracks the technology sector of the S&P 500 — hardware, software, semiconductors, and IT services. It launched in December 1998 and is one of the most heavily traded sector ETFs, dominated by mega-cap names like Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
Is XLK outperforming the S&P 500?
The headline chart on this page divides XLK by SPY and rebases it to 100 at the start of your selected window. When the line is above 100 and rising, XLK is outperforming the S&P 500; below 100 and falling, it is lagging. The page also shows a dated, plain-English reading of XLK’s relative strength after every close.
What is the difference between XLK and QQQ?
XLK holds only the GICS technology sector of the S&P 500. QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100, which includes large non-tech names such as Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Costco, and PepsiCo. As a result QQQ is more diversified across sectors while XLK is a purer technology bet, and the two can diverge significantly.
Is XLK overextended right now?
The stretch-from-200-day chart shows how far XLK trades above or below its 200-day moving average, with a historical percentile. A reading in the top decile of its own history means tech is unusually extended versus its long-term trend — a context gauge for pullback risk, not a standalone sell signal.
What was XLK’s biggest drawdown?
XLK’s deepest drawdown was the dot-com collapse, when it fell roughly 80% from its 2000 peak. The drawdown chart on this page plots how far XLK sits below its running all-time high across its entire history, so every major decline — 2000–2002, 2008, and 2022 — is visible at a glance.
What are the best and worst months for XLK?
The seasonality chart averages XLK’s month-over-month returns by calendar month across its full history and shows how often each month closed positive. It’s a tendency, not a guarantee — seasonality describes the historical average, and any single year can differ sharply.
How often is this updated?
Daily, after the US market close, alongside the rest of the pipeline. Every series — relative strength, moving averages, drawdown, and the returns tables — is recomputed from XLK and SPY daily closes back to 1999.

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Last updated: 2026-06-18