Best Performing S&P 500 Stocks in February

The S&P 500 finished this month in the black, up 2.83%, for its best monthly performance since November 2009, and its best February since 1998 when the index rose 7.05%.

Among the ten major S&P sectors, consumer discretionary stocks lead the gains, up 5.3%, followed by industrial and material companies, rising 4.6% and 4.2%, respectively. The utilities and telecom sectors lagged the rest of the groups this month, posting losses of 1.9% and 1.3%, respectively.

The top three stocks in the S&P 500 in February are Airgas , Cliff Natural Resources andMillipore. To the downside, H and R Block , Dean Foods and The New York Times declined the most, with losses of 15%, 17% and 20%, respectively.

The tables below highlight the top ten best performing stocks in each of the top three sectors this month.

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