THE UTILITIES SELECT SECTOR SPDR FUND ETF News

Equal weighting provides increased diversification compared to their market cap-weighted counterparts and have historically fared well – as demonstrated last month when the S&P 500 Equal Weight Inde

Duke Energy Corp. said Wednesday that if its proposal to increase rates is approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC), the average bill will for residential customers will increase 6.6% by Jan. 1, 2023, will rise 9.3% for commercial customers and grow 9.0% for industrial customers. If approved, the Charlotte-based utility''s new fuel and renewable energy adoption rates would go into effect Sept. 1, 2022. At that time, residential rates would go up 7.9% if approved, then fall 1.2% on Jan. 1. The total monthly impact of all rate changes for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month would increase by $6.94 to $112.28. "Rising energy demand as North Carolina emerged from the 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns resulted in a significant increase in fuel needs for power generation, compounded by fuel commodity prices climbing drastically in 2021 due to tight supplies," Duke Energy said in a statement. "The sharp increase in commodity prices contributed to a $245 million under-recovery across the prior year, when fuel prices climbed sharply right after the company''s annual filing." Duke''s stock, which rose 1.2% in afternoon trading, has gained 3.5% over the past three months, while the SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF has tacked on 2.3% and the S&P 500 has lost 3.9%.

Dividend investing can be very rewarding if you know what you are doing. However, it can just as well result in substantial loss if you make a few key mistakes.

Play these sector ETFs should geopolitical tensions be in the limelight in the coming days.

Let's take a look at some big utility earnings releases and see if these can leave an impact on ETFs exposed to the space.

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. said Tuesday it has raised its quarterly dividend by 5.9%, to 54 cents a share from 51 cents. Shareholders as of March 10 can be paid the new dividend on March 31. The New Jersey-based utilities stock slipped 0.2% to $64.64 in midday trading. Based on current prices, the new annual dividend rate increases the implied dividend yield to 3.34% from 3.16%. That is above the yield for the SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF of 3.01% and well more than double the implied yield for the S&P 500 of 1.41%. "This latest increase represents the 18th increase in the common dividend in the past 19 years and marks our 115th consecutive year of paying a common dividend to shareholders, which is an achievement attained by very few companies," said Chief Executive Ralph Izzo. PSEG''s stock has gained 10.9% over the past 12 months, while the utilities ETF has tacked on 6.2% and the S&P 500 has rallied 13.2%. Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move.

Duke Energy Corp. said Wednesday that it targets energy generated from coal to be just 5% of total energy generation by 2030, and aims at a full exit from coal by 2035. Currently, the company coal fuel represents about 27% of its total energy generation. The electric utility said the targets are part of an expansion of its clean energy action plan, in which its 2050 net-zero goals now include Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. Scope 2 emissions include indirect emissions from power the company purchases from others and Scope 3 emissions include indirect emissions from others in the company''s value chain. The company said it has already retired 56 coal units, representing 7,500 megawatts, since 2010, and expects to retire an additional 862 megawatts by 2024. Duke Energy''s stock, which tacked on 0.2% in afternoon trading, has gained 2.7% over the past 3 months, while the SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF [s:xlu] has advanced 3.3% and the S&P 500 has slipped 2.3%. Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move.

COVID-19, inflation and the Federal Reserve have so dominated the financial news that it was easy to miss the run-up in utility and real estate shares. In the fourth quarter of 2021, real estate inves

Renewable energy stocks may move to energy sector; PayPal and MasterCard could leave tech space.

The latest Fed minutes came across as hawkish which resulted in a wavering stock market. Bond yields started rising.

2 New Buy Alerts With 6% Dividend Yield And High Upside

The latest Fed minutes came across as hawkish which resulted in a wavering stock market. Bond yields started rising.

Sector ETF report for XLU

The S&P 500 surged this year, but four sectors performed even better.

A few are still in green with most of them from the defensive sectors like utilities, healthcare and consumer staples.