Government Bond And Utility: Two ETFs Trading With Outsized Volume

In the last trading session, the major U.S. benchmarks ended in the red as comments from some of the Fed officials raised prospects for a rate hike next month. Among the top ETFs, investors saw (AX:SPY) decline 0.5%, (V:DIA) lose 0.4% and QQQ decrease 0.5% on the day.

Two more specialized ETFs are worth noting in particular though as both saw trading volume that was far outside of normal. In fact, both of these funds experienced volume levels that were more than double their average for the most recent trading session. This could make these ETFs the ones to watch in the days ahead to see if this trend of extra-interest continues:

VGIT: Volume 5.5 times average.

This intermediate-term government bond ETF was in focus today as roughly 560,000 shares moved hands compared to an average of roughly 101,000. We also saw some share price movement as shares of VGIT lost 0.2% today.

The movement can largely be blamed on the low level yields on government bonds, which led investors to consider other options with higher yield providing potentials. For the month, VGIT is down 0.2%.The fund currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a Medium outlook.

FUTY: Volume 4.7 times average.

This utility ETF was under the microscope today as nearly 440,000 shares moved hands. This compares to an average trading day of 94,000 shares and it came as FUTY lost nearly 1.2% in the session.

The big move today was largely the result of rising chances of a rate hike in September, which, if it happens, may have negative impact on a debt heavy sector such as utility. FUTY is down around 4.9% in the past month. The fund also currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium outlook.

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