Shares of power producers (NYSEARCA:XLU) fell sharply Wednesday, as U.S. Treasury yields lingered at multiyear highs, diminishing demand for dividend-oriented utility stocks.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note closed at 4.625%, its highest level since 2007.
The S&P 500 Utilities Index closed -1.9% after touching its lowest intraday level since March 2021, after shedding 6% during the past five sessions.
NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) plunged 8.2% Wednesday to lead losses on the index, after NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) cut its forecast for full-year run-rate adjusted EBITDA and its growth-rate expectations for limited partner distributions.
On Tuesday, NextEra Energy (NEE) announced the sale of its Florida City Gas utility to Chesapeake Utilities for $923M in cash.
Among other significant decliners in Wednesday’s trading: American Water Works (AWK) -2.5%, NiSource (NI) -2.2%, DTE Energy (DTE) -1.6%, Eversource Energy (ES) -1.5%, Southern Co. (SO) -1.4%, Alliant Energy (LNT) -1.4%, Consolidated Edison (ED) -1.3%, PPL Corp. (PPL) -1.3%, Wisconsin Energy (WEC) -1.3%, Dominion Energy (D) -1.3%.