The sector SPDRs are driven by large-caps with the top ten stocks often accounting for more than 50% of the sector weighting. As such, the price action of these SPDRs does not necessarily reflect performance for the average stock in the sector.
Chartists looking for a more balanced look at sector performance can turn to the equal-weight sector ETFs (RSP, RCD, RYF, RYT, RGI, RYH, RYE, RTM, RHS, RYU, EWRE). The first symbol, RSP, is the EW S&P 500 ETF. Volume is relatively thin for these sector ETFs so they are not well-suited for trading. However, they can be used for analysis purposes, especially when using weekly charts.
The EW Utilities ETF (RYU), EW REIT ETF (EWRE) and EW Consumer Staples ETF (RHS) are leading because they hit new highs in September. The EW Energy ETF (RYE) is by far the weakest ETF because it has not closed above its 40-week SMA since October 2018 (weekly closes).