Some investors have been pondering the veracity of the recent rally in U.S. stocks. One of the more encouraging signs is that there has been leadership from cyclical sectors such as technology and consumer discretionary. Those are the S&P 500’s largest and fourth-largest sector weights, respectively.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLK), the largest technology exchange traded fund by assets, is up 10.6% year-to-date. Buoyed by the ongoing ascent for shares of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLY) is up 8% this year.
The tech sector could even see more free cash on hand if Congress proceeds with plans to cut down capital gains on repatriated earnings or follow in President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed repatriation tax holiday policy that would encourage large multi-national companies to bring back hundreds of billions of dollars in cash to the U.S. for possible use in dividends, deals or other projects. Trump plans to levy a 10% repatriation tax on U.S. companies’ overseas profits from foreign subsidiaries, compared to the current 35% tax rate.