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 September 18, 2026, XLK is leading the S&P 500 by +24.2 pts over the trailing year. Its 50-day moving average sits above the 200-day (a golden-cross uptrend). XLK trades +16.7% from its 200-day average — the 91th percentile of its history since 1999. It sits -4.3% 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.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-09-18 · Open ↓Close ↑
50-day above the 200-day — a golden-cross uptrend. -4.3% below the all-time high of $198.21 set 2026-06-02.
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. +74.8% vs SPY this window.
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.
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 that technology's compounding comes with drawdowns of that depth.
Stretch from the 200-day average
Percent above or below the 200-day moving average — a mean-reversion gauge. XLK currently sits +16.7% from its 200-day, the 91th percentile of its history.
Trailing returns: XLK vs SPY
Total return across horizons, and XLK's lead or lag versus the S&P 500.
| 1D | 1W | 1M | 3M | 6M | YTD | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XLK | +0.8% | +1.0% | +3.3% | -1.0% | +37.0% | +31.7% | +39.7% | +121.8% | +142.1% |
| SPY | -0.1% | -0.3% | -1.0% | +2.0% | +15.4% | +11.7% | +15.6% | +70.6% | +71.0% |
| Δ vs SPY | +0.9 | +1.4 | +4.2 | -3.0 | +21.5 | +20.0 | +24.2 | +51.2 | +71.1 |
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).
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.
50-day above the 200-day — a golden-cross uptrend. -4.3% below the all-time high of $198.21 set 2026-06-02.
How XLK Technology Sector Dashboard Works
- 1Start with XLK relative to SPYThe 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.
- 2Read the trend against the 50- and 200-day MAsThe 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.
- 3Gauge risk with drawdown and the 200-day stretchThe 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.
- 4Put today in context: annual returns and seasonalityWe 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 and is context for sizing. It is not a trade signal.