It’s time to take look at sectors

NEW YORK – The resolution of the presidential race gave Wall Street a surprising boost, helping equities gain more than 7 percent over the last three weeks. Now, with the end of the year in sight, it’s a good time to take stock of your portfolio’s sector allocations.

Looking over the 10 broad sectors of the Standard & Poor’s 1500 Supercomposite, Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, favors energy, health care and telecommunications, but is neutral on financials, technology, industrials and materials. She recommends underweight exposure to the consumer discretionary, consumer staples and utilities sectors.

Schwab remains bullish about the long-term fundamentals for energy, which has been the best-performing sector year-to-date by a wide margin. Sonders sees opportunities for higher returns in the biggest oil companies, as well as those that specialize in exploration and production. Regardless of short-term volatility, she thinks crude prices are likely to remain at above-average levels, buoyed by robust expansion in China.