2023-08-01 14:00:00 ET
Summary
- The S&P 500-tracking ETF finished July up 3.27%, leaving it up 20.62% YTD on a total return basis.
- Looking at US sectors, Energy and Financials did the best in July, while Health Care and Real Estate were up the least.
- Outside of the US, we saw China and Israel gain the most in July, while France and Spain gained the least.
The S&P 500-tracking ETF ( SPY ) finished July up 3.27%, leaving it up 20.62% YTD on a total return basis. The mega-cap Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 ( QQQ ) gained only slightly more than SPY in July, but it's up more than twice as much as SPY on a YTD basis at +44.5%. The small-cap Russell 2,000 ( IWM ) did better than large-caps and mid-caps in July with a gain of 6.11%, but IWM is up less than large-caps on a YTD basis at +14.7%. Value and dividend stocks held up well in July and actually outperformed growth for the month, but value is lagging YTD and the DJ Dividend ETF ( DVY ) is actually down 0.5% on the year.
Looking at US sectors, Energy ( XLE ) and Financials ( XLF ) - which lagged in the first half of 2023 - did the best in July, while Health Care ( XLV ) and Real Estate ( XLRE ) were up the least. Technology ( XLK ) and Communication Services ( XLC ) are currently neck and neck on a YTD basis, with XLK up 43.94% through July and XLC up just three basis points more at 43.97%.
Outside of the US, we saw China ( ASHR ) and Israel ( EIS ) gain the most in July, while France ( EWQ ) and Spain ( EWP ) gained the least. YTD, it's Mexico ( EWW ) that's currently atop the list of country ETFs with a gain of 42.85%.
Oil ( USO ) gained 15%+ in July, while natural gas ( UNG ) fell 4.2%. Gold ( GLD ) saw a small monthly gain of 2.3% versus a gain of 8.6% for silver ( SLV ). Finally, with yields rising again during the month, Treasury ETFs were in the red. Aside from natural gas, the 20+ Year Treasury ETF ( TLT ) is down more than any other asset class in our matrix on a YoY basis, with a total return of -12.3%.
Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
For further details see:
Key ETF Performance Through July 2023