Investors who like a more hands on approach to equities should consider the potentially changing conditions among the various market segments and look to sector-specific exchange traded funds to capitalize on the shifts.
For instance, Fidelity’s sector strategist, Denise Chisholm, argued that technology, consumer discretionary and health care sector stock fundamentals look strong while the energy sector faces ongoing risks with a global supply glut.
“Technology fundamentals looked solid in Q2, driven by accelerating EBITDA growth and healthy free-cash-flow margins,” Chisholm said in a research note. “Consumer Discretionary and Health Care also scored well on multiple measures. Energy continued to lag, but moderating U.S. oil production and global crude stockpiles could be dynamics to watch moving forward.”
ETF investors who want to track these various market segments can utilize sector-specific plays, such as the Fidelity MSCI Information Technology Index ETF (NYSEArca: FTEC), Fidelity MSCI Consumer Discretionary Index (NYSEArca: FDIS), Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF (NYSEArca: FHLC) and Fidelity MSCI Energy Index ETF (NYSEArca: FENY).
In an extended bull market environment with equities pushing toward new record highs, many participants have grown concerned over the lofty valuations. The S&P 500 was trading at a forward 12-month PE of 17.4, compared to 5-year average of 15.4 and 10-year average of 14.0. Nevertheless, financials and telecom sectors appear relatively inexpensive.
“Financials had the lowest relative valuations of any sector in Q2, based on its low price-to-earnings (P/E) and price-to-book (P/B) ratios,” Chisholm said. “Telecom also looked compelling on a P/E basis, but mixed on other metrics. Technology valuations have moved modestly above their historical averages due to strong recent outperformance.”
Investors can also look to the Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF (NYSEArca: FNCL) and Fidelity MSCI Telecommunication Services Index ETF (NYSEArca: FCOM) to gain exposure to these two market sectors.
Those who are less inclined to play the value game and lean more toward high momentum growth may like to keep an eye on technology, healthcare and discretionary companies, which have maintained their high relative strength. Relative strength, or momentum, reflects the price performance of a security compared to the market average, another security or a universe of securities and is a way of recording historic price performance patterns. The relative strength reading improves if it rises more than the benchmark in an uptrend or if it decreases less than the benchmark in a downtrend. Basically, it is a way of picking out high-flying stocks that fly even higher.
Related: Attractively Priced Sector ETF Picks
“Technology led the pack through the first half of 2017, despite a pullback recently,” Chisholm said. “Health Care rallied late in Q2, and Consumer Discretionary posted solid returns relative to the broader market. On the other hand, Energy and Telecom lagged. Financials also trailed the S&P 500 despite a more-recent turnaround.”