---
title: "Utilities rose 1.2% as the 30-year yield touched its highest since 2002"
url: "https://etf.net/news/utilities-rose-1-2-as-the-30-year-yield-touched-its-highest-since-2002-2026-09-29"
published_at: "2026-09-29T21:01:44.429Z"
updated_at: "2026-09-29T21:01:44.429Z"
byline: "ETF.net Research"
---

# Utilities rose 1.2% as the 30-year yield touched its highest since 2002

Utilities gained 1.2% on Tuesday, September 29, as the 30-year Treasury yield touched 5.62%, its highest since 2002, while energy fell 0.9%.

By ETF.net Research. Published Sep 29, 2026.

Utilities rose **1.2%** on Tuesday in XLU, the fund that holds the big US power and gas companies. It was the strongest gain among the eleven sectors, on a day when the 30-year Treasury yield touched **5.62%**, its highest level since 2002.

The fund that holds the S&P 500, SPY, fell 0.2%.

Chart: Utilities rose **1.2%**; energy fell the most

The 30-year yield closed at 5.59%, up from 5.56% on Monday. A higher yield on a long government bond usually weighs on utilities, because the bond offers a safer payout. Real estate, the other group tied to borrowing costs, slipped 0.1% in VNQ, the fund of US property companies.

NextEra Energy, the largest holding in XLU at 12.8%, rose 0.5%, while Constellation Energy rose 1.6% and Vistra 2.0%.

## Energy fell the most

Crude oil was at $88.89 in late trading, down 4.0% from the prior settle, as Saudi Arabia resumed loadings at Yanbu, its Red Sea port, through the East-West pipeline.

Energy fell with crude, but by less. XLE, which holds the big US oil and gas companies, lost 0.9%, the largest decline among the eleven sectors. Exxon Mobil, nearly a quarter of the fund, slipped 0.7%, and Chevron, 18% of it, fell 1.0%. The oilfield services firm SLB fell 3.1%.

XLE is still up 40% this year, counting dividends.

Materials fell 0.8% in XLB, the fund of chemical, mining and steel companies. Steel Dynamics dropped 3.7% and Nucor 3.4%, the two that pulled it down most.

## Carnival and Meta

Carnival jumped 13% after reporting its best-ever revenue and net income. Earnings, adjusted for some items, were $1.43 a share, in line with a year earlier even after a $0.10 hit from fuel and currency. The company lifted its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to about $2.24 a share.

Royal Caribbean rose 7.5% the same day. Tesla fell 1.3% and is nearly 18% of XLY, the consumer discretionary fund, which still closed up 0.1%.

Meta rose 3.3% and is more than a fifth of XLC, the communication-services fund. That move added about 0.7 percentage points, more than the fund's 0.3% gain. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile all fell.

## The longer decline

XLU is down 6.4% over the past month and 11.8% over three months.

Chart: XLU bounced Tuesday after a **two-week** slide

On Tuesday it touched a 52-week low and still finished higher, a bounce inside that decline on a day when the long bond reached its highest level since 2002.

Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/utilities-rose-1-2-as-the-30-year-yield-touched-its-highest-since-2002-2026-09-29. Please cite the page URL.