US STOCKS: Amazon gives biggest lift to S&P * Tech sector set to drop for second week * Dow up 0.03 per cent, Nasdaq down 0.15 per cent -
NEW YORK: The largecap technology sector is expected to see a bump in its growth weighting when index provider FTSE Russell completes the annual refresh of its benchmarks next Friday, a move that could lift tech shares targetted in the rejig.
The increased significance of tech comes on the heels of an around twenty per cent gain in the sector this year which led to a pullback over the last week.
FTSE Russell finalises its annual refresh of its widely-followed indexes on June 23, a move that prompts fund managers to adjust their portfolios to reflect new weightings.
Largecap tech is expected to see a more than 3 per cent weighting increase in Russell’s growth index, a major benchmark for portfolio managers.
After a brief classification as a partial value stock last year, Apple Inc is set to be once again classified as 100 per cent growth.
Some managers may be uncomfortable about having such a heavy growth weighting in tech, but they will have little leeway if they are benchmarked to a universal index.
At the other end of the spectrum, largecap healthcare and consumer discretionary are expected to see the biggest weighting bumps in Russell’s value category according to Jefferies, with increases of 2.6 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively.
“If you think of style, you think of whatever has worked in the year goes back to growth and whatever hasn’t worked goes back to value,” said Steve DeSanctis, equity strategist at Jefferies in New York.
“It’s not a fair assessment, but at the margin that is kind of the driver.”
Investors looking to trade on volatility may find some relief on June 23 when Russell’s refresh typically drives the largest trading day of the year.
Credit Suisse currently anticipates roughly $49 billion in share turnover for this year’s rebalance.
FTSE Russell maintains some of the most widely followed benchmarks in the United States with $8.6 trillion in assets tracking or invested in products that follow its indexes, according to the firm.
On an individual basis, nearly 400 companies will be affected by the rebalance, according to Ivan Cajic, head of index research at ITG in New York. “This year there are 10 additions and 2 deletions from the Russell 1000 so it is a much larger trade in the Russell 1000 space,” said Cajic.
Unlike Standard & Poor’s, which refreshes its indexes on a rolling basis, Russell’s reconstitutes its indexes just once a year.
As the CBOE volatility index has languished below 20 since the US Presidential election, investors will also welcome the boost in liquidity the rebalance provides.
“You might not necessarily have only indexers present in this year’s rebalance and the days leading up to it,” Cajic said.
One widely-followed stock that will not be joining a Russell index yet is Snap Inc.
Due to the company’s unusual share structure, Russell is withholding a decision until after the rebalance until an analysis and comment period from the investment community is completed.
“We need to look at it because there is a potentially a trend for these types of offerings, particularly technology companies,” said Mat Lystra, senior research analyst at FTSE Russell in Seattle.
US STOCKS: US stocks mostly edged lower on Friday as Amazon.com’s $13.7 billion deal to buy upscale grocer Whole Foods roiled the retail sector and wounded shares of an array of companies including Wal-Mart and Target.
The deal by Amazon, a proven retail disruptor, marked a major step by the internet retailer into the brick-and-mortar retail sector.
Wal-Mart shares sank 5 per cent, weighing the most on the S&P 500 and the Dow. Shares of Target, CVS Health and Costco fell between 4 per cent and 7 per cent.
“It’s disrupting a number of industries here, and that’s what’s causing the market problems,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W Baird & Co in Sarasota, Florida.
Amazon shares gained 3.6 per cent, making the stock the biggest boost to the S&P 500. Whole Foods shares surged 30 per cent.
The S&P consumer staples sector fell 1.3 per cent, by far the worst performing major sector.
The S&P 500 food and staples retailing index dropped 4.7 per cent.
Grocery chain Kroger was the biggest loser on the S&P 500, down 11.3 per cent, while Supervalu dropped 12.8 per cent.
“I would not like to be somebody playing in the grocery space right now,” said Jan Rogers Kniffen, Chief Executive of retail consultancy firm J Rogers Kniffen WWE in New York.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6.71 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 21,366.61, the S&P 500 lost 1.65 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 2,430.81 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 9.45 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 6,156.06.
The technology sector fell 0.2 per cent, continuing its recent slump.
Tech has led the S&P 500’s 8.5 per cent rally this year, but is on track for its second week of declines, prompting questions over whether investors are moving money into other sectors.
“I think we need to see more of a pullback to say there is a serious rotation going on as opposed to just some profits coming off the top,” said Chuck Carlson, Chief Executive Officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana.
Energy shares rose 1.1 per cent, propping up the S&P 500.
Oil prices edged up from 2017 lows as some producers cut back on exports. — Reuters
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