Sector ETFs Ranks: Cyclicals in the top five
- Stephen Suttmeier
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
This post highlights the Tactical and longer-term 52-week Ranks for the S&P 500 GICS Level 1 sector ETFs as of the week ending 1/30/2026.
Tactical Ranks
The Top five Tactical Ranks are Energy, Materials, Industrials, Communication Services, and Staples
Cyclicals - Energy, Materials, Industrials - remain in the top five and took the top three slots last week. Two of these sectors - Energy and Industrials - also rank in the top five in terms of the 52-week ranks.
Growth - Communication Services moved into the top five, replacing Discretionary. Communication Services also has a top five 52-week rank.
Defensive - Staples moved into the top five, replacing Healthcare.
Given recent tactical sector rotations, there are no longer any consistent top five sectors over the last 10 weeks. Healthcare had been a consistent top five sector over the prior 10 weeks.
The Bottom five Tactical Ranks are Utilities, Financials, Real Estate, Discretionary, and Technology.
Defensive - Utilities and Real Estate, with a bottom five 52-week Rank for Real Estate.
Cyclical - Financials, which also has a bottom five 52-week Rank.
Growth - Technology and Discretionary. However, Technology remains the top ranked sector in terms of the 52-week Rank. Discretionary moved into the bottom five, replacing Communication Services, and also has a bottom five 52-week Rank.
Given recent tactical sector rotations, only Real Estate has remained in the bottom five over the last 10 weeks but has improved from its worst levels in recent weeks.
Utilities have had a bottom five ranking over the last nine weeks.
How to read historical tactical and 52-week ranks tables
Consistent green: Sustained leadership or relative strength
Consistent red: Sustained laggard or relative weakness
Green from red: Shift to leadership or improving
Red from green: Shift to laggard or deteriorating
Table 1: Historical S&P 500 GICs level 1 sector Tactical Ranks history for last 10 weeks
52-week Ranks
The Top Five 52-week Ranks are Technology, Industrials, Communication Services, Energy, and Utilities.
Growth - Technology and Communication Services.
Cyclicals - Industrials and Energy. Energy replaced Materials (ranks 6th) in the top five.
Defensive - Utilities replaced Healthcare in the top five.
Technology, Industrials, Communication Services, and Energy have stronger 52-week (YoY) returns than the S&P 500 - See Chart 1 below.
Technology, Communication Services, and Industrials show solid long-term rankings, holding top five positions consistently over the last 10 weeks.
Technology has ranked first over the last 10 weeks.
Communication Services has held a top 2 to 3 position over the last 10 weeks.
The Bottom Five 52-week Ranks are Real Estate, Financials, Discretionary, Healthcare, and Staples.
Defensive - Real Estate, Healthcare, and Staples, but Staples is off its worst levels on tactical rank improvement. Healthcare replaced Utilities in the bottom five.
Cyclicals - Financials.
Growth - Discretionary.
Real Estate and Consumer Staples have ranked in the bottom five over the last 10 weeks. Real Estate has held the bottom two slots over the last 10 weeks, while Staples have improved to rank seventh.
Table 2: Historical S&P 500 GICs level 1 sector 52-week Ranks history for last 10 weeks
Only four sectors - Technology, Industrials, Communication Services, and Energy - have stronger 52-week (YoY) returns than the S&P 500.
Chart 1: 52-week (YoY) price returns for the GICs Level 1 sector ETFs and the S&P 500
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