Life has come full circle for oil stocks in 2023. In 2022, the energy sector of the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) gained 58%, and was the only sector to end in the green as wider markets tanked and tech stocks had their worst year in decades. The energy sector, meanwhile, notched its best-ever year in 2022, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helped catapult oil prices to multi-year highs.
This year has been a different ballgame, though - and the energy sector is in the red, ranking among the worst-performing S&P 500 subsectors. Call it a reversal of fortunes, but the tech sector - which was the worst-performing sector last year - is now the best-performing sector in 2023.
