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In U.S.-China Trade Spat, Utilities Emerge as Best Performers

In U.S.-China Trade Spat, Utilities Emerge as Best Performers

(Bloomberg) -- Utilities were the best-performing sector in the S&P 500 Index Tuesday with the threat of a looming trade war between the U.S. and China driving investors to safe havens.

In U.S.-China Trade Spat, Utilities Emerge as Best Performers

The 28-company S&P 500 utility index jumped as much as 2.5 percent Tuesday to its highest intraday level since Feb. 1. Treasuries, another safe-haven investment for Wall Street, were also up.

Utility stocks are “particularly attractive defensive investments in the current context of rising international trade frictions,” Sector & Sovereign Research analysts Eric Selmon and Hugh Wynne said in a research note.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Polson in New York at jpolson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net.

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