VanEck Retail ETF·Financial Services

The Advance Retail Sales Report from the Census Bureau showed consumer spending was more robust than expected in February.

VanEck Retail ETF (NYSEARCA:RTH) gives investors a concentrated bet on the largest retail names in America, but that concentration is precisely what makes it worth understanding before putting money in. With the fund essentially flat year-to-date, down just 0.07%, while its more broadly diversified peer SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA:XRT) has lost 6% over the... Consumer Sentiment at 56.4: The Number RTH Investors Must Watch in 2026.

U.S. consumer spending has remained resilient, but there is a growing divide in who is spending and what they're spending on. In what many economists describe as a K-shaped economy, higher-income households have continued to prosper, allowing them to spend freely, while lower-income consumers have scaled back as elevated prices, lagging incomes, and rising debt have taken a toll.

The Advance Retail Sales Report from the Census Bureau showed consumer spending was down less than feared in January. Headline sales slipped 0.2%, a step down from December's flat reading but better than the projected 0.3% decline.

XRT and other retail ETFs come into focus after flat December sales and weak real spending cast a shadow over the 2025 holiday season.

The U.S. economy began 2026 with a display of unexpected resilience in the labor market, even as long-term data revisions painted a more modest picture of 2025 growth. While consumer spending showed signs of exhaustion during the holiday season, inflation continued its downward trajectory, reaching levels not seen in several years.
VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS US Listed Retail 25 Index (MVRTHTR), which is intended to track the overall performance of companies involved in retail distribution, wholesalers, on-line, direct mail and TV retailers, multi-line retailers, specialty retailers and food and other staples retailers.
Financial Services
Asset Management
2001-05-17
0.92
Market Peers





