Sectors In Review: March 2019

January saw every sector ETF end up in positive territory for the month, led by the iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF (IEZ), up 19.9%; the SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME), up 17.07%; and the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP), up 15.07%. The worst performer was the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU), up 3.41%, while the Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU) and the iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE) were up 3.69% and 4.38%, respectively. Despite their positive performance, the sector ETFs in our survey saw outflows totaling $6.5 billion during the month, with a trio of Select Sector SPDR ETFs leading the stampede. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) lost $1.7 billion, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) lost $1.1 billion and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) lost $813.8 million. At the other end of the spectrum, inflows were fairly weak: The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) pulled in $579.5 million, while the iShares Expanded Tech- Software Sector ETF (IGV) gained $196.1 million and VPU gained $45.4 million.

Source: Bloomberg. Data from 12/31/2018 to 1/31/2019. ETFs chosen to represent each sector based on the most liquid ETF in each segment of the ETF.com ETF Classification System.