Perhaps it is not surprising that during a week when the S&P 500 climbed to a record high, investors hunted for specific pockets of strength.
That much was seen in the most searched exchange traded funds on ETF Trends this week. For the first time in many weeks, this week’s most trafficked ETFs include several marquee sector funds at the top of the list.
The honor of this week’s most searched ETF goes to a familiar friend: The Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLK). It is a familiar stock, some company called Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL), that likely sparked increased searches of XLK.
XLK, the largest technology sector ETF, features Apple as its largest holding with an allocation of 15.4%. The surprise regarding XLK is that investors have pulled money from the ETF even as Apple has surged. They are missing out because XLK gained almost 4% in May and hit a new 52-week high on Friday. [Investors Skirt Apple ETFs as Stock Soars]
The iShares U.S. Technology ETF (NYSEArca: IYW), which allocates 18.3% of its weight to Apple, was also among the most searched ETFs this week.
In the second and third spots overall were the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLU) and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV), the top two of the nine sector SPDRs on a year-to-date basis.
Searches of XLU and XLV spiked late in the week after the pair was highlighted as two of the best sector ETF options for the month of June. [Sector ETF Winners for June]
Another highly searched and conservative sector ETF was the First Trust Consumer Staples AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FXG). FXG, a smart beta spin on the consumer staples sector, touched a new all-time high on Friday.
The iShares Intermediate Credit Bond ETF (NYSEArca: CIU) and the SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF (NYSEArca: BWX) were in a dead heat for being the most searched bond ETF while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca: SLV) was by far the most searched commodities ETF.
SLV’s popularity was somewhat surprising given the weakness in gold and gold miners ETFs.
The most searched single-country ETFs were two funds that suffered drubbings on the week. Investors’ distaste for Egypt’s poll results sent the Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF (NYSEArca: EGPT) tumbling more than 7%, a loss that was accrued on Thursday and Friday. [Egypt ETF Plunges After Election Results]
The iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWZ) lost 1% on the week, saddling the largest Brazil ETF with a loss of the same amount for the month of May. EWZ declined 2.1% Friday, falling below its 50-day simple moving average.
The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO) was the most searched multi-country ETF while the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF(NYSEArca: SCHD) was the most searched dividend ETF.
Technology Select Sector SPDR
Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of Apple, SLV and SCHD.