As the market approaches the final three hours of the trading week (are there really still three hours left?), the average decline of the S&P 500’s individual components since the index’s closing high on 7/31 is now at -9.9%, but many stocks are down much more than that. While less than one in five stocks in the index are up during this period, 81 stocks are down 20% or more, while another 166 are down between 10% and 20%.

In terms of the sector breakdown, the only sector with average gains among its components is Energy (+5.4%).In addition to Energy, Communication Services, Financials, and Technology have all held up relatively better than the index itself while stocks in the Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary, and Real Estate sectors are down the most in aggregate. While economic data seems to suggest the consumer is holding up, the performance of consumer stocks is telling a different story.

The second chart shows the percentage of components in each sector that have posted positive returns since the 7/31 high. In five different sectors, less than 10% of components have posted gains, whereas Energy is the only sector where more than a third of components are up. In fact, it’s closer to 90%!

Overall, there’s not a lot of positive things to say when it comes to equity market returns since the end of July, but the table below lists the 21 stocks in the S&P 500 that have rallied 10% or more since the close on 7/31. Topping the list is Eli Lilly (LLY) which has gained 30% on optimism over its weight loss drugs. Behind LLY, Progressive (PGR), and Arista Networks (ANET) are the only other stocks with gains of more than 20%.

In terms of sector representation, it’s not surprising that Energy is among the leaders with five different stocks on the list. Along with Energy, though, both Financials and Health Care each have five stocks as well. Overall, seven different sectors are represented, while four (Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Industrials, and Materials) are completely absent from the list. Not surprisingly, all four of these sectors have been among the worst performers since the 7/31 peak.

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