Stocks closed flat on Friday, but overall, it was a decent holiday-shortened week for U.S. equities as the S&P 500 managed to tack on almost 0.8% in just 3.5 trading days.
While some traders and investors were busy pondering the fate of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), among other marquee stocks, nearly 200 ETFs hit new 52-week highs on Friday. Nearly 150 of those highs were also of the all-time high variety.
With that ebullience in mind and an eye toward the start of 2014, here is a look at some of this week’s most searched ETF tickers on ETF Trends.
Health care…again: Last week, we noted that the most searched sector ETF was the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV). XLV retains that title again this week, but not by many page views over the Market Vectors Biotech ETF (NYSEArca: BBH).
BBH is locked in a tight battle with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NasdaqGS: IBB) for top honors among health care ETFs in 2013, but IBB placed just behind BBH in searches on ETF Trends this week. Overall, four of five most searched sector ETFs on ETF Trends this week were health care funds. [Duel to be 2013’s Best Health Care ETF]
An Asian Surprise: ETFs with exposure to Asia were popular on ETF Trends this week, but the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DXJ) was knocked from last week’s perch as the most searched ETF from the region. [Most Searched Tickers on ETF Trends]
This week’s top spot is occupied by the db X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund (NYSEArca: ASHR) and that also means the new ETF was the most searched emerging markets ETF of the week. The rival iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: FXI) was also popular during the just finished week.
Bank Loan Bosses: The competition for the most searched bond ETFs on ETF Trends this week was not even close. It boiled down to the PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (NYSEArca: BKLN) and the new, actively managed SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF (NYSEArca: SRLN).
Overall, six bond ETFs were among the 50 most searched tickers on ETF Trends during the week, but only SRLN and BKLN ranked near the top-20.
Surprise departures from the top-10 most searched: Gold ETFs dropped off this week, although it was not for lack of effort as commodities ETFs are trying to end 2013 on an upbeat note. [Commodities ETFs Look for Positive End to Bad Year]
New additions: SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: SDY) and the PowerShares Buyback Achievers Portfolio (NYSEArca: PKW). Neither appearance is particularly surprising as dividend ETFs have grown in prominence (and assets) this year.
Members of the S&P 500 increased share buybacks by 8.6% during the third quarter to $128.2 billion up from the $118.1 billion spent on share repurchases during the second quarter, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. [Buybacks Reach Highest Level Since 2007]