The U.S. stock market is slowly and steadily extending its string of record highs amid uncertainties related to Ukraine and Iraq. Last week, the S&P 500 hit new record highs for the twenty-second time this year while Dow Jones climbed to all-time highs and is approaching its 17,000 threshold. The Nasdaq Composite index also jumped to its highest level in 14 years.
The record-breaking numbers came from better economic fundamentals, a strengthening job market, rising merger & acquisition talks and pickup in stock buyback activity. Further, the Fed reiterated its commitment to keep its interest rates near zero for a considerable period of time that propelled the market to new highs yet again (read: Will Large Cap ETFs Continue to Surge?).
Moreover, earnings expectation for the ongoing second quarter seems inspiring as the companies in the S&P 500 are expected to post 3.2% earnings growth, which is more than double the earnings growth of the first quarter, as per the Zacks Industry Trends.
These have resulted in strong inflows into the U.S. equity funds, as per ETF.com. The ultra-popular SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) led the way last week, gathering more than $3.8 billion in capital. This boosted the fund's asset base to around $168.2 billion. This ETF provides exposure to the large cap segment of the broad U.S. equity market by tracking the S&P 500 index, and holds 503 stocks in its basket.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) occupy the top two positions with 3.3% and 2.5% of assets, respectively. Other securities hold less than 1.80% share. The fund is widely spread across a number of sectors with information technology, financials, health care, consumer discretionary, energy and industrials accounting for double-digit exposure.
The product charges 9 bps in fees per year and trades in average daily volume of more than 107 million shares. The ETF was up about 0.9% ...
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