JETS, AIRL Rise on JetBlue Surge; UTES Gains on Vistra Rally

 Airline-focused ETFs advanced Friday, shrugging off Spirit Airlines potential bankruptcy filing.

The U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) gained more than 3%, while Themes ETF Trust - Themes Airlines ETF (AIRL) added nearly 2%. This came despite Spirit’s stock nosediving more than 23% on reports of its financial troubles.

JetBlue Airways shares surged over 14%, helping to buoy the sector.

The utilities sector also saw positive movement, with the Virtus Reaves Utilities ETF (UTES) rising 1%.

Vistra Corp, which has outperformed Nvidia as the S&P 500’s top gainer this year, continued its run with a 4.7% increase. The stock has now risen in 18 of the last 19 trading sessions.

In the healthcare sector, the iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF (IHF) dipped nearly 0.1%.

While CVS Health shares climbed 2.6 following news of potential strategic shifts, this gain was offset by declines in Humana and UnitedHealth, down 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively. Humana revealed a downgrade in one of its primary Medicare Advantage plans’ star ratings.

Stock ETFs are moving higher while bond funds dip after more jobs were created than expected last month and a dock strike that threatened a massive disruption to deliveries of consumer goods ended after three days.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) added 0.2% Friday morning after the U.S. Labor Dept. reported 254,000 new jobs last month, crushing the 150,000 estimate reported by MarketWatch. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%. The narrower SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) was less buoyant, bouncing between gaining and dropping.

Gains in equity exchange-traded funds were muted as hopes for a large interest rate cut next month diminished. The CME FedWatch tool puts odds at 95% for a 0.25% rate cut next month whereas last week those chances were almost evenly split between 25 and 50 basis points.

The end of a strike at ports from Maine to Texas has calmed fears an economic slowdown due to consumer goods being stuck on ships and not snapped up by buyers enjoying lower credit card rates. The $370 million SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) jumped 2.3%. 

XRT 3-Year Performance

Bond ETFs slumped as Treasury yields surged, with the 12 month jumping 3.59%. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) slid 1% and the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) lost 0.6%.