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Wall Street has been enjoying a huge rally this year, with the S&P 500 Index touching a series of historic highs on strong earnings and the AI craze. However, uncertainty about the timing of the Fed rate cuts continues to make investors jittery.

This is especially true as the hotter-than-expected inflation data took away some sheen from the stock market. The wholesale prices accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in February. The producer price index, which measures pipeline costs for raw, intermediate and finished goods, jumped 0.6% in the month, higher than 0.3% forecast by Dow Jones and the 0.3% increase in January. The hot inflation number sparked concerns about the Fed’s interest rates cut in June.

The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell about 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed about 0.4% in the Mar 14 trading session. This resulted in enough liquidity in the ETF world on the day. While most of the funds traded at extremely high volumes, we have highlighted five ETFs that exchanged more than 50 million shares in hand.

These include SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report), BlackRock iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT - Free Report), Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF - Free Report), BlackRock U.S. Equity Factor Rotation ETF (DYNF - Free Report) and iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT - Free Report).

SPDR S&P 500 ETF – Volume: 110.2 million shares

The anticipation of rate cuts is fueling heavy volume to this ETF. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust tracks the S&P 500 Index and holds 503 stocks in its basket, with each accounting for no more than 7.3% of the assets. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is heavy on the information technology sector, whereas financials, healthcare and consumer discretionary round off the next three spots with a double-digit allocation each.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust charges investors 9 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 63 million shares. It has an AUM of $504.9 billion and a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold), with a Medium risk outlook.

BlackRock iShares Bitcoin ETF – Volume: 99.5 million shares

Spot bitcoin ETFs have been grabbing immense investor attraction, underscoring the rapidly growing enthusiasm for Bitcoin and its related financial products. BlackRock iShares Bitcoin ETF has been at the forefront. Notably, Bitcoin surpassed the $73,000 mark for the first time ever this week.

iShares Bitcoin Trust seeks to reflect the performance of the price of Bitcoin. It enables investors to access Bitcoin within a traditional brokerage account. The fund charges 25 bps in annual fees from investors. IBIT has AUM of $14.8 billion and trades in an average daily volume of $27.7 million shares.  

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund - Volume: 65.6 million shares

The financial sector is also in the spotlight on the prospect of falling interest rates, which would lower funding costs and the price of credit, thereby leading to high loan demand in the year ahead. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund is an ultra-popular ETF in the financial space with AUM of $37.8 billion and average daily volume of 45 million shares.

It seeks to provide exposure to 72 companies in diversified financial services, insurance, banks, capital markets, mortgage real estate investment trusts, consumer finance, and thrifts and mortgage finance industries. Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund follows the Financial Select Sector Index, charging investors 9 bps in fees per year. It carries a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a Medium risk outlook.

BlackRock U.S. Equity Factor Rotation ETF - Volume: 62.4 million shares

Uncertainty over the Fed rate cuts is leading to sector rotation activity. BlackRock U.S. Equity Factor Rotation ETF is an actively managed ETF that seeks to outperform the investment results of the large- and mid-capitalization U.S. equity markets by providing diversified and tactical exposure to style factors via a factor rotation model. BlackRock U.S. Equity Factor Rotation ETF holds 114 stocks in its basket. It is heavy on the information technology sector, while financials and consumer discretionary round off the next two spots with a double-digit allocation.

BlackRock U.S. Equity Factor Rotation ETF has AUM of $4.4 billion and charges 30 bps in annual fees. It trades in a volume of 1.3 million shares a day on average.

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF - Volume: 62.4 million shares

U.S. Treasury yields climbed following a stronger-than-expected reading on U.S. inflation, which cast doubt on the timing and magnitude of interest rate cuts from the Fed. The 10-year yield rose to 4.29% in yesterday's trading session, the highest level since Mar 1, leading to a solid trading volume in TLT. iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF provides exposure to long-term Treasury bonds by tracking the ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Years Bond Index. iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF holds 42 securities in its basket and charges 15 bps in annual fees. It has an average maturity of 25.62 years and an effective duration of 16.79 years.

TLT is one of the most popular and liquid ETFs in the bond space, with an AUM of $48.4 billion and an average daily volume of 42 million shares. iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF has a Zacks ETF Rank #4 (Sell) with a High risk outlook.

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