US sector & thematic performance

What these baskets show

A basket is a group of US-listed shares tracked together as a single line, so you can follow a part of the market at a glance instead of watching each stock on its own. A sector basket groups companies from the same part of the economy, such as banks or miners. A thematic basket groups companies that share an activity or idea, such as lithium or artificial intelligence, even when they sit in different sectors.

Each basket is measured against the S&P 500, which is used here only as a comparison. That lets you see whether a group is running ahead of or behind the wider market.

How each basket is built

Sector baskets are built by rule, not by opinion. From the US market we take active common shares, keep those with a market value of at least USD 1 billion and an average daily traded value of at least USD 5 million over the past 90 days, rank them by size, and hold the top 20. A sector basket is only published once at least 8 companies qualify, and no single stock is allowed to make up more than 20% of the basket.

Thematic baskets start from a reviewed list of companies that fit the theme, then apply activity and size checks: a market value of at least USD 500 million and an average daily traded value of at least USD 2 million, with no single stock above 25%.

Membership is recomputed after each close with a buffer that suppresses churn, so a name does not drop out on a single quiet day. When a company does leave a basket, its history is dated rather than deleted. Companies are grouped using a standard industry classification.

How the return figures are measured

Each basket is turned into an index that starts at 100, so its return reads as a percentage move from that base. The published line is equal-weighted, which means every holding counts the same regardless of its size. On sector detail pages a market-cap-weighted companion line is also shown, where larger companies count for more.

The 1-week figure covers the last 5 trading days, 1-month covers about 21, and year-to-date runs from the first trading day of the year. When a price is missing, it is carried forward for up to 5 trading days; after that the holding is dropped and the basket is reweighted. A missing price is never treated as a return of zero.

How relative strength is measured

Relative strength compares a basket with the S&P 500. It is the basket index divided by the S&P 500 index, then centered at 100.

Two numbers describe it. The relative-strength ratio compares the current reading with the basket's own 50-day average, so a value above 100 means the basket has been stronger than the market lately. Relative-strength momentum is the change in that ratio over the past 30 days, which shows whether the gap is widening or narrowing. A basket that exactly matches the market sits at 100 on both, and a basket without enough history yet shows a dash.

How to read the Sector Rotation Chart

The Sector Rotation Chart plots the two relative-strength numbers together, which sorts each basket into one of four labels. Leading means stronger than the market and still improving. Weakening means stronger than the market but losing ground. Lagging means weaker than the market and still slipping. Improving means weaker than the market but catching up.

These labels describe what the numbers show. They are not a signal to buy or sell.

How often this updates

Figures are end of day. The whole set is recomputed once per trading day after the US market close, so the numbers reflect the most recent completed session, not the current one. The as-at date is the last full recompute. On weekends and public holidays the page carries the last close until the market trades again.