The U.S. Consumer Staples space sprung to life yesterday on enormous trading volume in benchmark ETF XLP (SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector, Expense Ratio 0.18%), which saw nearly 40 million shares change hands (ADV is 7.48 million shares).
Additionally, listed options in XLP were also very active compared to the norm as December 43 calls were in play. With the ETF challenging a $43 handle in the early going today, these options are nearly in the money already.
XLP has broken out into fresh new highs inside of the last eight trading sessions, led by the short term performance of top holdings such as PG (13.94%), KO (10.15%), and PM (9.36%) for instance, and in some cases the quarterly earnings have already been reported for the index components here (WMT is an exception, with expected earnings on 11/14/13).
XLP is the largest ETF in terms of assets under management in the Consumer Staples Equity space, having amassed $5.79 billion in AUM since inception including an additional +$180 million raised just in the past couple days.
Other funds in the global space have raised considerable assets over time as well and remain on many radars due to month over month and year over year increases in trading volume and activity, and these include VDC (Vanguard Consumer Staples, Expense Ratio 0.14%), ECON (EGShares DJ Emerging Markets Consumer, Expense Ratio 0.85%), FXG (First Trust Consumer Staples Alpha DEX, Expense Ratio 0.70%), KXI (iShares S&P Global
Consumer Staples, Expense Ratio 0.48%), and IYK (iShares U.S. Consumer Goods Sector, Expense Ratio 0.48%) to name just a few (there are fifteen ETFs in the “Global” sector category here).