Utilities have been outperforming the S&P 500 for a solid month now and are bringing other defensive assets, including consumer staples and Treasuries, along for the ride. While longer-term yields are bouncing around a bit and performance relative to stocks is choppy, the trend over the past two months has been towards lower interest rates. A relatively firm statement from the Fed detailing rate policy plans added another layer of strength to the greenback.

This is again becoming one of those incredibly narrow market rallies that is being led by tech and almost nothing else. Utilities has actually been one of the better performing market sectors over the past month. While large-caps keep blasting ahead, small-caps aren’t buying it.

Despite a significant short-term sentiment shift away from risk last week, tech stocks continue to demonstrate resilience in the face of danger. Disappointing post-Thanksgiving holiday sales numbers dragged down the consumer and retail sectors significantly last week. REITs continue to draw interest as the financial markets grow more volatile.