The technology sector and the relevant exchange traded funds have been recently been key contributors in helping the broader market ascend to new highs.
Technology companies have regained their footing in recent months as volatility dissipated and investors renewed their focus on a beaten up growth category, with the Nasdaq Composite and the PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ), which tracks the tech heavy Nasdaq-100 Index, both making new highs.
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Investors seeking targeted exposure to the technology space have a number of broad sector plays at their disposal. For starters, the Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLK) has been a popular option to target technology names in the S&P 500. Alternatively, the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEArca: VGT) is a cost-efficient avenue for investors looking for technology exposure as well. Large institutional traders may enjoy the robust liquidity found in XLK, but long-term investors who are less concerned about day-to-date, bid-ask spreads may like the cheaper 0.10% expense ratio found in VGT, compared to XLK’s 0.14% expense ratio.
Both XLK and VGT track market capitalization-weighted indices, so the top components include prominent names like Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL), Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT) and Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB).
QQQ, one of the largest U.S. ETFs, has equal-weight equivalents equal-weight equivalents such as the Direxion NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares (NYSEArca: QQQE) and the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NasdaqGS: QQEW).