After months of outperformance from stocks of economically sensitive and reopening-levered companies, investors felt compelled to play defense this past week. The rapid climb in bond yields paused, and utilities and consumer staples were the best-performing sectors in the S&P 500—but the long-term trend still favors value and cyclical stocks.
There wasn’t one clear catalyst for the shift. European vaccination hiccups and reimposed or extended lockdowns, Covid-19 cases rising again in the U.S., a Suez Canal blockage disrupting…
