The S&P 500 Index, the most widely watched measuring stick
of U.S. equities and the benchmark behind the world's largest ETF,
the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEArca:SPY), has tagged on gains of 11.8
percent year-to-date thanks to some stellar performances among its
underlying stocks.
Telecommunications giant Sprint Nextel (
S
) currently leads the tally of 500 securities that are included in
the index, with year-to-date gains of 115.8 percent. Seagate
Technology (Nasdaq:STX) is a close second, with gains of some 108.5
percent, according to data compiled by S&P.
What's interesting is that among the top-performing stocks is a
broad array of economic sectors that include technology,
financials, consumer-focused and home-building companies-all of
which point to an economic environment that isn't necessarily
leaving anyone behind.
From a sector perspective, telecommunications and information
technology have led the broad equities benchmark, with gains of
roughly 19 percent and 18 percent, respectively, year-to-date,
according to S&P Dow Jones Indices data on its website.
But financials and consumer discretionary aren't far behind,
each rallying around 14.5 percent since the beginning of the year,
while health care is up 11 percent. At the other end of the
spectrum are utilities and energy-the two lowest-returning sectors
year-to-date-but even they have each climbed some 3.5 percent.
All in all, the S&P 500 Index has tagged on almost 12
percent in gains so far this year, and now sits just above the
1,400 mark.
Apple Inc., the index's single largest holding by market
capitalization and one that represents 4.6 percent of the S&P
500 portfolio, has rallied 55.5 percent so far this year, but its
performance doesn't quite make the cut into the top 10 S&P 500
stocks of 2012. Apple comes in 12
th
place.
The benchmark's other top holdings by market cap, including the
likes of Exxon Mobil, IBM, Microsoft, Chevron and General Electric,
are not among the best-performing stocks year-to-date. The S&P
500's top holdings represent a 21 percent share of the benchmark's
market capitalization.
By comparison, best-performing names Sprint Nextel and Seagate
represent roughly 0.1 percent of the total pie, with home builder
Pulte Group coming in with a 0.03 percent weighting.
Following is the tally, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices
data as of Aug. 14:
|
Company
|
Ticker
|
Year-to-date Returns
|
|
Sprint Nextel
|
NYSE:S
|
115.80%
|
|
Seagate Technology
|
Nasdaq:STX
|
108.50%
|
|
PulteGroup
|
NYSE:PHM
|
97.10%
|
|
The Gap
|
NYSE:GPS
|
86.60%
|
|
Expedia
|
Nasdaq:EXPE
|
85.50%
|
|
Sears Holdings
|
Nasdaq:SHLD
|
71%
|
|
Regions Financials Corp.
|
NYSE:RF
|
62.50%
|
|
Lennar Corp.
|
NYSE:LEN
|
58.90%
|
|
Sherwin Williams
|
NYSE:SHW
|
57.90%
|
|
Teradata Corp.
|
NYSE:TDC
|
56.60%
|
ETFs Follow The Lead
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca:SPY), which replicates the
performance of the S&P 500, has also gained nearly 12 percent
since the beginning of the year. Also, its assets have jumped to
$105 billion, making it the biggest ETF in the world by a solid
margin.
But other ETFs that serve up exposure to some of the same
winning stocks helping buoy the S&P 500 have also benefited
from the strength in the underlying stocks.
Perhaps no performance is more telling than that of
house-construction-focused iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction
Index Fund (NYSEArca:ITB), which currently holds the distinction of
being the single best-performing ETF in 2012 with gains of more
than 45 percent year-to-date.
Among the $757 million fund's top three holdings are two of
S&P 500's best-performing underlying stocks-Lennar Corp and
Pulte Group Inc., each of which represents just over 9 percent of
the portfolio.
Another iShares ETF, the iShares Dow Jones U.S.
telecommunications Sector Index Fund (NYSEArca:IYZ) is an example
of the power of individual securities. The fund allocates 8.2
percent of its portfolio to Sprint Nextel, which has tallied up
gains of more than 113 percent so far this year.
AT&T, which comes in as IYZ's largest holding, with a 16.7
percent weighting, has also returned a sizable 23.2 percent in the
same period, numbers that have helped IYZ ride above the market
with year-to-date gains of 15.8 percent.
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