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5 ETFs That Gained Investors' Attention Last Week

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The U.S. stock market performed well last week driven by a recovery in growth stocks as a hot surge in yields cooled down somewhat. The Dow Jones logged in its biggest week so far this year with a 4.1% advance while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index posted their best week in five, gaining 4.1% and 3.1%, respectively.

Expectation for a fast-recovering economy supported by continued progress in the development of more COVID-19 vaccines, rapid vaccine rollout, reopening of the economy as well as new stimulus are fueling growth in the stock market. President Joe Biden last week signed one of the largest U.S. fiscal $1.9 trillion stimulus bills into law. Meanwhile, U.S. consumer sentiment improved in early March to its strongest in a year, according to a survey by the University of Michigan (read: $1.9-T Stimulus to Boost U.S. Equity Demand? ETFs to Gain).

Overall, ETFs gathered about $16.5 billion capital last week, bringing in year-to-date inflows of $181.5 billion, higher than $89.8 billion seen in the year-ago period. U.S. equity ETFs led the way higher last week with $15.9 billion inflows, closely followed by $3.5 billion in international equity ETFs, per etf.com.

As such, a few ETFs garnered solid investor interest last week and will continue to be their darlings should the current market trends prevail. Below we have highlighted five of them:

Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE - Free Report)

Energy has strongly rebounded this year and is the top-performing sector. This is especially true, as oil price has been benefiting the most from the expectation of swift global economic recovery. The latest upbeat economic data from the United States and China also bolstered confidence in a global economic rebound that will lift demand for energy.

XLE has been one of the most-popular ETFs of last week, gathering $1.5 billion in capital. It is the largest and the most-popular ETF in the energy space with AUM of $24 billion and an average daily volume of 35 million shares per day. Expense ratio is 0.12%. The fund follows the Energy Select Sector Index and holds 23 securities in its basket. The product has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a High risk outlook (read: Energy ETFs Soar On Reopening Hopes).

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM - Free Report)

IWM has accumulated around $1.4 billion in its asset base last week. With the sharp rebound in the economy, investors are rotating into small-cap stocks as these are poised to outperform when the economy improves. These pint-sized stocks generate most of their revenues from the domestic market, making them great choices during an uptrend. The small-cap index — Russell 2000 — surged more than 7% last week.

IWM is the largest and the most-popular ETFs in the small-cap space with AUM of $1.4 billion and holding well-diversified 2,033 stocks in its basket. The fund has key holdings in healthcare, industrials, financials, consumer discretionary and information technology. It charges 19 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with Medium risk outlook.

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report)

This fund gathered $1.1 billion in capital last month, taking its total AUM to $256 billion. While rising yields tend to hit the technology sector hard as it relies on easy borrowing for superior growth, the appeal for cyclical sectors pushed S&P 500 to record highs. IVV tracks the S&P 500 Index and holds 509 stocks in its basket. The fund is widely spread across sectors with information technology, healthcare, consumer discretionary, financials and communication being the top five, with double-digit allocation each. The ETF charges investors 3 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 3.7 million shares. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium risk outlook (read: Recovering Economy Drives Bets for S&P 500 ETFs).

iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG - Free Report)

This fund pulled in about $955.1 million in capital last week. A $1.9 trillion fiscal package has fueled a rally in the emerging market stocks, as the new package would lead to increased demand for metals and industrial products from companies in the emerging markets. IEMG holds a broad basket of 2,515 stocks of emerging markets with key holdings in information technology, consumer discretionary, financials and communication. China takes the largest share at 35.6% while Taiwan and South Korea make up for at least 14% share each. The product has AUM of $76.5 billion and charges 11 bps in annual fees. It trades in an average daily volume of about 12.9 million shares and has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium risk outlook.

Invesco PureBeta MSCI USA ETF (PBUS - Free Report)

This ETF has accumulated about $859 million last week, bringing its total AUM to $885.9 million. It offers exposure to the performance in the large- and mid-capitalization segments of the U.S. equity market and weights securities by their free float-adjusted market capitalization. Holding 623 stocks in its basket, information technology dominate the sector with 27% of assets while healthcare, consumer discretionary, communication services and financials round off the next spots with double-digit exposure each. The product charges 4 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 13,000 shares. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy).

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