Broad market equities and stock exchange traded funds stumbled around in sideways trading at the start of the week but jumped as a combination of economic strength and accommodative central bank policies pushed the Dow and S&P 500 to all-time highs.
The S&P 500 gained 0.8% this week while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.1%.
This week’s action began after the FOMC meeting Wednesday revealed the U.S. economy was expanding at a “moderate” pace with “persistently” low inflation pressure. The markets expected the Fed to push off any tapering as the Fed continued with its current loose monetary policy. [Accommodative Fed Measures to Support Stock Market, ETFs]
After a day to digest the news, broad market indices spiked, with the S&P 500 crossing over the 1,700 marker for the first time and the Dow hitting a new record close of 15,628. [Stock ETFs Rally as S&P 500 Crosses 1,700]
Meanwhile, lower jobless claims pointed to an improving jobs market and a positive ISM report revealed an stronger-than-expected manufacturing sector.
However, the equities market was relatively flat Friday following a less-than-expected growth in payroll employment for July and a moderate increase in personal income and personal spending.
Over the past week, equities attracted $6.6 billion in new inflows and $5.3 billion of which went into ETFs, Barron’s reports.
Meanwhile, about $1.6 billion exited bonds as the benchmark yield on 10-year Treasuries swung back-and-froth 10 basis points, or 0.10%, in two days. The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSEArca: TLT) was down 1.7% over the past week.
Gold futures still remained above $1,300, even after a $25 swoon and quick recovery Friday following the employment report. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) was still down 1.6% over the week.
The top unleveraged ETFs over the past week include the db-X In-Target Date Fund (NYSEArca: TDX) up 7.1%, Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (NYSEArca: GREK) up 5.8% and PowerShares Gold Dragon China Portfolio (NYSEArca: PGJ) up 5.1%.
The worst performing unleveraged ETFs over the week include the Emerging Global Shares INDXX India Small Cap Fund (NYSEArca: SCIN) down 10.0%, Market Vectors India Small-Cap Index ETF (NYSEArca: SCIF) down 9.2% and Global X Fertilizers/Potash ETF (NYSEArca: SOIL) down 8.5%.
Looking ahead, investors can look for the international trade report on U.S. imports and exports Tuesday and new jobless claims to gauge the U.S. employment environment Thursday.
Max Chen contributed to this article