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The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which emerged stronger than the other two major indices this year, had its biggest weekly drop since October, losing 2.5%. The slide came amid renewed concerns about economic growth and Trump’s tariff threat (read: Dow Jones ETF DIA Getting All Love: Here's Why).
SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA, which tracks the Dow Jones, shed 1% last week. While most of the stocks in the fund’s portfolio dropped, a few survived the slump. We have highlighted five of those — Merck & Co. Inc. MRK, Verizon Communications VZ, Johnson & Johnson JNJ, The Coca-Cola Company KO and Amgen AMGN.
A barrage of economic data last week has sparked concerns over economic growth. U.S. business activity nearly stalled in February due to growing fears over tariffs on imports and deep cuts in federal government spending. S&P Global’s flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which gauges both manufacturing and services, dropped from 52.7 in January to 50.4, marking its weakest level since September 2023.
Consumer sentiment dropped as inflation roared back. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to a 15-month low of 64.7 in February, down from a final reading of 71.7 in January. Homebuilder sentiment hit a five-month low in February. Concerns are building up in the homebuilder space that tariffs would raise the cost of building materials, including lumber and appliances, thereby leading to elevated home prices and reduced affordability.
Further, consumers' 12-month inflation expectations deteriorated to 4.3%, the highest reading since November 2023, from 3.3% in January. Over the next five years, consumers saw inflation running at 3.5%, the highest since 1995, compared with 3.2% in January, according to the latest survey. The spike came as President Donald Trump’s tariffs plan will translate into higher prices.
Let’s take a closer look at the fundamentals of DIA.
DIA in Focus
With AUM of $39 billion, DIA holds 30 stocks in its basket, with each security holding no more than 9% share. The fund is widely spread across sectors, with financials, information technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary being the top three. It charges 16 basis points in fees per year from investors and trades in heavy volume of around 3 million shares a day on average. The fund has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a Medium risk outlook.
Here are the five best-performing stocks in the ETF with their respective positions in the fund’s basket: