Stock exchange-traded funds (ETF) only took four months in 2021 to outpace their inflows from the entirety of 2020, according to Morningstar analysts. Moreover, stock ETFs focused on U.S. markets have excelled due to rising consumer confidence towards the U.S. economic recovering from 2020's pandemic-rut and the nation's faster-than-expected vaccination campaign.
Stock ETFs have collected a total of $253.5 billion in flows so far in 2021, according to Morningstar data, with April contributing $53.2 billion to that total. Comparatively, stock ETFs took in $231.8 billion throughout 2020.
U.S. Stock ETFs like iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market
U.S. value stocks, in particular, have benefited from the economic recovery sentiment that had swept over Wall Street in the first quarter, with sectors like Energy
Interestingly, it seems like investors are more swayed by U.S economic recovery cues than normal market movers like corporate quarter earnings reports as Wall Street moves into the second quarter.
Credit Suisse Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Jonathan Golub wrote in an analyst note on Thursday that, to date, over 85% of S&P 500
Despite this Q1 blow-out, companies that have topped estimates for both revenue and earnings have outperformed Wall Street by just 1.0% on average, compared to the historical average of 1.4%, Golub added.
It seems that investor's current trend of focusing primarily on U.S. economic data as the nation works to emerge into a post-pandemic world will continue to drive market moves beyond typical market drivers.
