With the arrival of a new round of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, the US stock market is experiencing a “roller coaster” journey. As of May 6 this year, the NASDAQ fell 22.37% and the S&P 500 index fell 13.49%.

As fluctuations in the US stock market have intensified, risk appetite in the global market has also changed markedly. Fearful investors are buying defensive sector ETFs in a big way.

According to Morningstar data, as of the end of April this year,The inflow of capital into ETFs in essential consumer goods, utilities, healthcare, real estate, and precious metals during the year reached 50 billion US dollars.It has already surpassed the net inflow data of 42 billion US dollars for the full year of 2021, and is expected to challenge the high point of net inflow of 75 billion US dollars in 2020.

Meanwhile, the healthcare selection sector SPDR ETF recorded an inflow of 1.7 billion US dollars in April, the highest level since July 2021. The utility selection sector SPDR ETF had a net inflow of $923 million last month, and the real estate selection sector SPDR ETF received $306 million.

According to Citibank's analysis, under the current environment,Profits from traditional defensive stocks such as utilities, essential consumer goods, real estate, communications services, and healthcare are “less sensitive to economic activity,” so they are more attractive to investors worried about a recession.

And the facts also prove thatThe market is “secretly rewarding” theseinvestors,In the S&P 500 sector, with the exception of the energy sector soaring through the sky,The utilities and consumer necessities sectors have outperformed the market this year.$Gold Mining ETF-VanEck (GDX.US) $,$Utility Select Industry Index ETF-SPDR (XLU.US) $They all recorded increases.$Daily Consumer Goods Selection Industry Index ETF-SPDR (XLP.US) $,$Healthcare Select Industry Index ETF-SPDR (XLV.US) $Although no increase has been achieved, compared toThe S&P 500 index has dropped 13% from the beginning of the year to date, outperforming the market overall.

According to statistics, as of May 6, clean energy giants$Constellation Energy (CEG.US) $Up nearly 60% this year, one of the world's top four food giants$Archer Daniels Midland (ADM.US) $Up more than 33%, food giant$Kraft Heinz (KHC.US) $, American tobacco giant$Altria (MO.US) $, an American supermarket giant$Kroger (KR.US) $, medical and health care leader$Squibb (BMY.US) $, an American pharmaceutical distribution giant$Meiyuan Bergen (ABC.US) $The average increase was about 20%.