Investors that follow an annual sector rotation strategy of buying the laggards and selling the winners are off to good start in 2025. Defensive-oriented sectors including health care, utilities, and real estate (plus energy) are among the top-performing sectors year to date, while communication services and technology are among the worst performing. That's a switch from last year, when growth-oriented sectors far outpaced the rest of the market.
Source: FactSet, as of March 27, 2025.