Real Estate And Global Categories Improve

Real Estate was the top-performing sector and posted the largest gains in both momentum and ranking position. All factors lost momentum, but the majority of global categories improved.

Sectors: Real Estate and Telecom were the top-performing sectors over the past week, which moved Real Estate two places higher and into a positive momentum reading. Meanwhile, Telecom was already holding down the second-place spot, and its gains allowed it to secure a tighter grip on that position. Financials is still the top dog, with the smokestack sectors of Energy, Industrials, and Materials rounding out the top five. There was some minor shuffling of positions among the lower-tier categories. Utilities lost momentum but still managed to move up a spot in the rankings due to the larger drop for Consumer Discretionary. Health Care remains on the bottom and has the dubious honor of being the only sector currently registering negative momentum.

Factors: All factors lost momentum the past week as the market took advantage of the holiday-shortened week to digest some of its recent gains. The top five factors are the same for a third consecutive week. High Beta extends its reign, with Small Size, Value, and Fundamental factors falling in line below it. The four mid-tier categories of Market Cap, Yield, Dividend Growth, and Quality remain tightly bunched and somewhat isolated from the higher- and lower-ranked factors. Growth and Momentum swapped places on the bottom, but both continue to lag the field.

Global: Four global categories remain in the red, although not the same four as last week. Latin America made the transition to green while Japan went the other direction. The U.S. is on the top for a third week, and the Eurozone is holding down the #2 spot for a second week. Canada moved ahead of World Equity as it benefits from stability in the oil patch and gains for the Canadian dollar. Unlike the sector and factor rankings, where most categories lost momentum over the past week, the majority of global categories posted improvements. This is especially visible among the lower-ranked members, where three are on the verge of moving into the green. China also had a good week, but it is still firmly in last place.