Traders See Utility Rally Burning Out on Valuations, Fed

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One quirk of the U.S. bull market is that defensive stocks are rising as fast as economically sensitive ones like technology and bank shares. Options traders are betting that will end.

Skepticism is focusing on utilities, whose 22 percent rally in 2014 is the biggest among 10 industries in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Demand for options that protect against future losses reached the most in 21 months relative to bullish ones, data compiled by Bloomberg show.