Year-to-date, XLB is now up 4.4%, but IYM is lower by 1%. That performance difference could be the result of the allocation difference to DuPont. IYM actually has the larger weight to chemicals makers by 50 basis points, but the lower weight to DuPont. XLB also has a slightly larger weight to LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE: LYB), a stock that has gained 15% this year.
Materials Select Sector SPDR
ETF Trends editorial contributed to this post.