Energy sector ripping
Energy was the only March sector gainer — up about +9.5% in March and roughly +18% YTD, extending a 14‑week streak and delivering about +43% cumulative gains with fresh inflows into XLE. (x.com) Defense names also jumped — RTX, LMT and NOC rallied roughly +17–22% over the same period, underscoring a sector rotation into industrials and energy plays. (x.com)
XLE recorded a $745.9 million creation (net inflow) on Feb. 3, 2026, while the fund’s assets under management stood near $43.8 billion at the end of March. (etfchannel.com) Goldman Sachs flagged that the Energy Select Sector (XLE) has closed higher for 14 consecutive weeks—its longest winning streak—and that the ETF has climbed more than 40% over that run. (seekingalpha.com) The investment bank raised its 2026 price outlook for Brent to $85/bbl and for WTI to $79/bbl, explicitly citing disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz as a key supply-risk driver behind the sector move. (energynow.com) Bloomberg’s ETF data showed XLE up roughly 32.6% year‑to‑date through March 31, 2026, with top holdings still dominated by Exxon Mobil and Chevron. (bloomberg.com) Passive ETF flows were large in Q1: U.S.-listed ETFs took in about $462 billion in the quarter, and weekly energy-ETF inflows earlier in the period were among the biggest single-category pulls. (etf.com) Defense names jumped alongside energy on early‑March geopolitics: RTX popped about 6.2% premarket on March 2, Northrop Grumman climbed roughly 4.6% intraday the same day, and Lockheed Martin’s trackers showed roughly a 28% YTD advance amid record industry backlogs. (finbold.com)
