The SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF surged 1.6% toward a record high in morning trade Friday, as the drop in Treasury yields in the wake of a weak May jobs report made the high-yielding sector tracker more attractive. Of the ETF’s 29 components, 25 traded higher, and 12 hit fresh 52-week highs in intraday trade. Among the ETF’s most-active components, shares of PPL Corp. climbed 1.6%, of Southern Co. shot up 1.8%, of AES Corp. gained 0.6%, of Excelon Corp. tacked on 0.9% and of NRG Energy Inc. slipped 0.4%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 0.1 percentage points to a three-week low of 1.712%, after data showing only 38,000 new jobs were created in May, while 155,000 new jobs were expected. The ETF, which has dividend yield of 3.20%, according to FactSet, has run up 16% year to date, compared with a 2.4% gain in the S&P 500 , as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has dropped 0.557 percentage points.
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