(MONEY Magazine) – The major stock indexes left a strong 2006 behind, posting smaller gains through mid-January, slowed in part by weaker than expected forecasts from tech companies like Apple and Intel. The Dow Jones industrial average saw a 1.4% jump. The Energy sector landed at the bottom of the S&P 500 as oil prices hit their lowest point since June 2005. And a rise in oil inventories took a bite out of widely held ExxonMobil's stock, which fell 6.5% for the month.

S&P 500 SECTOR AVERAGES

TOP-PERFORMING STOCKS

BENCHMARKS

S&P 500 RATIOS

P/E 18.2 DIVIDEND YIELD 1.80%

HIGHEST-YIELDING DOW STOCKS

MOST WIDELY HELD STOCKS

NOTES AND SOURCES: Unless otherwise noted, data as of Jan. 18 from Lipper, New York; 877-955-4773. Index levels from Bloomberg. Bond index data from Lehman Brothers. Stock data from Thomson/Baseline. Monthly S&P 500 ratios from Standard & Poor's. Ratios are based on previous four quarters of earnings. Top-Performing Stocks limited to companies with market capitalization of at least $500 million. Most Widely Held Stocks ranked by largest accounts at Merrill Lynch. ¹Annualized. ²Price change only.