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Shares of utility companies jumped Wednesday as long-dated U.S. Treasury yields fell to their lowest levels in three months after data showed private sector businesses added fewer jobs than expected last month.
Long-dated Treasury yields have been sliding in recent weeks on hopes that evidence of a cooling labor market and easing inflation will allow the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates next year.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell five bps Wednesday to 4.12% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury shed eight bps to 4.22%, marking the lowest levels for both rates since August 31, according to Dow Jones.
The SPDR Select Sector Utilities ETF (NYSEARCA:XLU) led all S&P sectors on Wednesday, +1.3%, trimming its YTD loss to less than 10% after climbing ~12% from its October lows.
Top gainers included NextEra Energy (NEE) +3.4%, Sempra (SRE) +3%, Exelon (EXC) +2.3%, Dominion Energy (D) +2%, Southern Co. (SO) +1.8%, Pinnacle West (PNW) +1.8%, Ameren (AEE) +1.7%, Alliant Energy (LNT) +1.6%, Duke Energy (DUK) +1.6%, Xcel Energy (XEL) +1.5%.