Q1 Performance by Sector: Tech Leads Declines

As the first quarter comes to a close, the S&P 500 is poised to finish down close to 10%, which would be the worst performance since Q3 2002 when the index traded down 17.6%. Looking at the performance of individual sectors shows some interesting trends.

So far this year, no area of the market has been safe, as all ten sectors are down. Traditionally during down markets, investors are advised to stick to defensive sectors like Consumer Staples, Health Care, and Utilities.

However, as this quarter's returns indicate, only one of those sectors (Consumer Staples) is outperforming. Additionally, with oil trading above $100 (even after today's $4+ decline), Consumer Confidence at multi-decade lows, and home foreclosures rising exponentially, one would expect the Energy sector to be outperforming the Consumer Discretionary sector.

As the results indicate, however, during Q1 the Consumer Discretionary sector actually outperformed the Energy sector by close to 200 basis points.