Airline stocks and sector-related ETF climbed Wednesday, and solid fundamentals may help airlines keep flying higher.
The U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSEArca: JETS), the only dedicated airline industry-related ETF on the market, was up 2.6% Wednesday and the fund has jumped 8.9% over the past two weeks.
Despite rising fuel costs as crude oil prices steadily rise, airline stocks have strengthened in recent weeks. This transportation segment may be enjoying stronger growth on increased holiday traveling.
For instance, during this Thanksgiving season, about 51 million Americans were expected to travel 50 miles or more from home on U.S. roads, highways, airlines, rails and waterways, or up 3.3% year-over-year and the highest volume since 2005, Frank Holmes said on U.S. Global Funds.
According to Airlines for America, a record 28.5 million passengers were expected to take to the skies this year during the 12-day Thanksgiving period, or an additional 2.38 million passengers a day.