The $5.5 billion iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (NasdaqGS: ACWI) looks like it is flashing some encouraging signals for market bulls.
ACWI, which holds nearly 1,350 stocks and charges 0.33% per year, is up slightly Tuesday and has gained almost 4% in the past month. That move has brought the ETF to within in pennies of not just a 52-week high, but an all-time high as well. There are other positive signs as well.
“If we’re making new highs, we would want to see new highs in the advancers vs the decliners happen concurrently, for obvious reasons. Taking out new highs with declining participation has historically been one of the great tells of a market top. That’s not what we’re seeing today,” notes Josh Brown on The Reformed Broker.
Brown highlights a bullish technical view of the MSCI All Country World Index, courtesy of Stephen Suttmeier, chief technician at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
“A new high for the ACWI A-D line is bullish for the ACWI. The technical trend and breadth remain bullish for the MSCI ACWI Index with a new high for the ACWI advance-decline (A-D) line (2431 stocks) yesterday. This supports the case for further upside in the ACWI beyond the January/December highs of 407.95-408.55 toward projected channel and chart resistance near 420-430 (the channel top rises toward 440 into June). Key supports are 400-380,” according to Suttmeier.
Over 40 countries were represented in ACWI as of the end of 2013, according to iShares data, but the ETF is heavily tilted toward developed markets with eight of its top-10 country weights being developed economies. The U.S. accounts for nearly 48% of the fund’s weight. Nine of the ETF’s top-10 equity holdings are U.S.-based companies with Nestle (PK: NSRGY) being the outlier.
There is an ex-U.S. equivalent to ACWI, the $1.5 billion iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF (NasdaqGS: ACWX). ACWX has slightly outpaced ACWI over the past month, gaining 4.2%. The U.K. and Japan combine for over 30% of ACWX’s weight.
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF
