| S&P
500 Index Changes in March
By IndexFunds.com Staff
April 2, 2001 |
|
Recently, we took a not-so-serious look
at the prospects for front-running additions to the S&P 500
to exploit the "index effect," where demand can push
up a stock's price when it enters an index. This time, let's take
a look back and see what happened to the index in March.
Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced three additions to
the S&P 500 in March. Not surprisingly, technology experienced
the biggest decline of any sector for the month, losing 1.29%.
| S&P 500 Sector Weightings |
| Sector |
End of March |
End of February |
Weight change |
| Financials |
17.64% |
17.20% |
0.44% |
| Utilities |
4.26% |
3.90% |
0.36% |
| Energy |
6.83% |
6.50% |
0.33% |
| Consumer Cyclicals |
8.63% |
8.30% |
0.33% |
| Consumer Staples |
12.92% |
12.80% |
0.12% |
| Health Care |
13.41% |
13.30% |
0.11% |
| Transportation |
0.76% |
0.70% |
0.06% |
| Basic Materials |
2.52% |
2.50% |
0.02% |
| Communication Services |
6.12% |
6.10% |
0.02% |
| Capital Goods |
8.71% |
9.20% |
-0.49% |
| Technology |
18.21% |
19.50% |
-1.29% |
Source: Merrill Lynch Equity Derivatives
Strategy Department
For good measure, let's check out what happened in S&P's
mid- and small-cap indexes.
Four companies were added to the S&P MidCap 400 index last
month.
| S&P MidCap 400 Sector
Weightings |
| Sector |
End of March |
End of February |
Weight change |
| Financials |
16.96% |
15.27% |
1.69% |
| Utilities |
8.75% |
7.56% |
1.19% |
| Basic Materials |
4.24% |
4.03% |
0.21% |
| Capital Goods |
6.83% |
6.63% |
0.20% |
| Consumer Staples |
8.10% |
7.98% |
0.12% |
| Energy |
7.51% |
7.43% |
0.08% |
| Transportation |
2.07% |
2.04% |
0.03% |
| Communication Services |
1.48% |
1.47% |
0.01% |
| Health Care |
11.06% |
11.21% |
-0.15% |
| Consumer Cyclicals |
14.87% |
15.14% |
-0.27% |
| Technology |
18.11% |
21.23% |
-3.12% |
Source: Merrill Lynch Equity Derivatives
Strategy Department
Twelve companies were added to the S&P SmallCap 600 index.
Again, technology experienced the biggest decline of any sector
in March. Unlike the two indexes examined above, however, technology
is not the most heavily weighted sector in the SmallCap 600.
| S&P SmallCap 600
Sector Weightings |
| Sector |
End of March |
End of February |
Weight change |
| Energy |
7.65% |
6.80% |
0.85% |
| Consumer Cyclicals |
19.44% |
18.99% |
0.45% |
| Utilities |
4.49% |
4.14% |
0.35% |
| Consumer Staples |
10.03% |
9.74% |
0.29% |
| Health Care |
11.41% |
11.20% |
0.21% |
| Basic Materials |
4.55% |
4.44% |
0.11% |
| Communication Services |
0.22% |
0.20% |
0.02% |
| Transportation |
2.82% |
2.83% |
-0.01% |
| Financials |
11.64% |
12.11% |
-0.47% |
| Capital Goods |
12.51% |
13.04% |
-0.53% |
| Technology |
15.23% |
16.50% |
-1.27% |
Source: Merrill Lynch Equity Derivatives
Strategy Department
