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<h3>ENERGY SECTOR RUNNING HOT, MAYBE TOO HOT?</h3>
Shortly after the year kicked off, S&amp;P 500 Energy (.SPNY) appeared stoked for a strong 2026, and so far it’s been playing out that way. That said, the group may now be overheated on the charts.
Energy is the top-performing S&amp;P 500 (.SPX) sector this year with a 22.1% advance. This compares to a 0.5% rise for the benchmark index. And although still relatively early in 2026, energy is on pace for its biggest yearly price gain since a 59% surge in 2022.
The group broke out to fresh record highs in January, and after ending at 838.97 on Wednesday, is now on track to rise for a ninth straight week.
Of note, using LSEG data back to late 1989, winning streaks of eight or more weeks have been relatively rare. The group has posted only three eight-week winning streaks which ended in September 2000, July 2004 and April 2024, and just one nine-week winning streak that ended in October 2004. Its record weekly winning streak, when looking out three decimal places, was an 11-week stretch of gains that ended in June 2007.
Additionally, at just over 77.00, the 14-week Relative Strength Index (RSI) is now at its most overbought level since mid-June 2014’s 79.17 reading. The RSI has room to move higher, but from that peak in 2014, Energy then entered a multi-year bear market.
Given the streak, and the elevated RSI, a downside turn on a weekly basis may signal potential for a more significant setback. However, the 756-710 area would be strong support.
In any event, with oil prices extending gains on concerns of a potential U.S.-Iran conflict, traders are also contending with a major wild card.
(Terence Gabriel)
<h3>EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS: EURO, EURO, ON THE WALL… WHO’S THE ‘BEST’ PRESIDENT OF THEM ALL? CLICK HERE DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN FOR THE U.S. DOLLAR CLICK HERE ‘THE DECADE OF THE ROBOT’; BARCLAYS SEES PHYSICAL AI NEAR INFLECTION POINT CLICK HERE UTILITIES AND MINERS DRAG, NESTLE DRIVES ZURICH TO NEW RECORD CLICK HERE BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPEAN FUTURES MIXED, AS EARNINGS DRIVE MOVERS CLICK HERE ASIA HOLIDAYS AS US, IRAN WORK TO AVERT CONFLICT CLICK HERE</h3>
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<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/buzz/byvrnookgve/image-1771502645545.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" width="826" height="572" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/buzz/byvrnookgve/image-1771502645545.png"/>
(Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

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LIVE MARKETS-Energy sector running hot, maybe too hot?