Here are some sector returns:


                                                                                                                     QTD           YTD

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Aerospace & Defense Index Fund ITA             -1.27%   8.47%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials Sector Index Fund IYM             -1.89%   -0.13%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Broker-Dealers Index Fund IAI                     -0.36%         17.48%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Sector Index Fund IYK       0.56% 14.49%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Services Sector Index Fund IYC       0.36% 13.10%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Energy Sector Index Fund IYE                      -0.42% 10.50%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Sector Index Fund IYF                        0.13% 12.26%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index Fund IYG                      -0.30% 11.46%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare Providers Index Fund IHF                3.78% 16.31%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare Sector Index Fund IYH                        1.62% 17.69%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund ITB               -1.63% 11.06%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Industrial Sector Index Fund IYJ                       -0.97% 10.61%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Insurance Index Fund IAK                                0.37% 15.97%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Medical Devices Index Fund IHI                        0.37% 13.62%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Prod Index Fun IEO     -1.50% 13.91%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil Equipment & Services Index Fund IEZ       -1.45% 11.01%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Pharmaceuticals Index Fund IHE                        0.83% 14.15%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Regional Banks Index Fund IAT                       -1.03% 10.22%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Sector Index Fund IYW       -0.64% 3.28%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Telecommunications Sector Index Fund IYZ        0.37% 1.08%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Sector Index Fund IDU                        0.01% 13.42%

Pretty striking underperformance on the tech, telecom and telecom.   Tech was weighted down by AAPL. Excluding AAPL, the rest of the sector was up about 7% which is not significant of a level of underperformance.

I think Basic materials is underperforming because of the lack of global growth prospects, but it also is a bit misleading as the Dow Chemicals, Freeport McMoRan and Newmont mining have hurt returns.

In any case, it can still be helpful to look at sector returns in order to try to puzzle together an overall picture if what is going on in the economy.

My conclusion is that the market was up fairly evenly across the board so this is a rally that has a lot of legs and not dominated by any one story.