Tech traders pushed Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL) shares lower on Monday but the sector bellwether’s slimmed-down allocation in the Nasdaq-100 Index means the decline didn’t weigh as heavily on a popular Nasdaq exchange traded fund (ETF).
Apple shares slipped to start the week following a recent run stoked by strong quarterly results.
The iPhone and iPad maker is still the largest stock holding in PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ), but its weighting in the ETF has fallen to 12.3% from over 20% as a result of a special rebalancing of the Nasdaq-100. The ETF was fractionally lower in midday trade.
Last month, the Nasdaq gave a heads-up that it would rejigger the stock weightings in the ETF’s tracking index. The rally in Apple shares in recent years boosted the stock’s portion in the Nasdaq-100, which weights stocks by market capitalization. [Nasdaq Alters Index After Surge In Apple Shares.]
Several other large holdings in PowerShares QQQ have also seen their portfolio weightings change after the rebalance. Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT) now accounts for 8.1%, Oracle (NasdaqGS: ORCL) represents 6.8%, Google (NadaqGS: GOOG) is 5.1% and Intel (NasdaqGS: INTC) is 4.7%.
PowerShares QQQ
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