2017 ETF Inflows Near $70B As Stocks Hit Record Highs

Flows into U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds accelerated in the past week, as the U.S. stock market zoomed to a record high. In total, $17.9 billion flowed into ETFs in the week ending Thursday, Feb. 16, according to FactSet. The year-to-date total for inflows now stands at $69.3 billion.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of the new money went into U.S. equity ETFs, which had net creations of $10.5 billion. The S&P 500 climbed 1.5% week-over-week, and is now up 5.2% for 2017 as a whole.

Even with the flurry of buying in U.S. equities, other segments also saw inflows of their own. International equity ETFs took in $3.7 billion and U.S. fixed-income ETFs took in $2.6 billion. International fixed-income ETFs and commodity ETFs had much more modest inflows during the period, $218 million and $484 million, respectively.

Sector ETFs 'XLF' & 'XLP' See Inflows
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) topped the list for individual ETF flows, garnering $4.3 billion worth of creations. At the same time, two sector ETFs made the top 10; the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF), with inflows of $1.3 billion, and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP), with inflows of $494 million.

A pair of "risk-on" type of ETFs to make the cut were the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK), with inflows of $1.2 billion and $497 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, two gold-focused funds to garner interest from investors were the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and the VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), with creations of close to $400 million each. During the week, gold prices were close to unchanged, near $1,235/oz.

Huge Outflows For Dow Jones ETF
Despite this week's broad-based ETF buying, one ETF to see sizable outflows was the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA). Its redemptions of $2 billion sent its total assets under management down by more than 10%. Still, year-to-date flows for DIA are in positive territory, to the tune of $530 million. 

Three sector funds to fall out of favor this week were the Utilities Select Setor SPDR Fund (XLU), the iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF (IYR) and the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB), with outflows ranging from $140 million to $480 million.

Interestingly, the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ), last year's biggest flows loser, had outflows of $130 million. For 2017 as a whole, the fund has seen outflows of $500 million already.

Finally, rounding out the bottom 10 were two oil products. The United States Oil Fund (USO) and the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (UCO) had outflows of around $80 million apiece during the week.

For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.