August turned out upbeat for Wall Street. State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY has offered 3.7% over the past month (as of Aug. 30, 2026). State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust DIA has added about 2.6%, the Nasdaq-100 ETF Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 QQQ tacked on 4.8% gains, and the small-cap iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) added about 1.1%.
Below are the key developments of the month, which played a role in ETF asset generation.
Treasury Buybacks Support Debasement
The Treasury doubled the maximum size of its bond buyback operation to at least $4 billion from $2 billion to help contain rising yields. Though small relative to the Treasury market, the move strengthened the debasement trade.
Dollar Hits Three-Month Low
The U.S. dollar fell to a three-month low against the euro amid concerns that larger Treasury buybacks could pressure the greenback. Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund UUP gained just 0.14% over the past month through Aug. 28, while gold jumped 8.4%.
Crypto Rally Gains Steam
Bitcoin and Ethereum climbed about 23% and 32%, respectively, over the past month as the dollar weakened and optimism around U.S. crypto regulation increased.
NVIDIA Boosts AI Outlook
NVIDIA NVDA projected about 70% revenue growth for fiscal 2028, well above Wall Street’s roughly 43% forecast. The upbeat outlook reinforced the AI boom and supported ETFs focused on AI, robotics and next-generation technology.
Fed Rate-Hike Risks Rise
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh signaled that inflation remains a concern, boosting market expectations for a September rate hike. Fed funds futures put the odds at 57%, up from 39.9% a week earlier, at the time of writing.
Under ETF Asset Gainers & Losers
Against this backdrop, we highlight the ETF asset flow of last month. The data are as per ETF Central.
S&P 500 Wins, But Not All
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO and State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF SPYM have amassed assets worth $27.1 billion and $5.10 billion, respectively, over the past month (as of Aug. 28, 2026). A diversified exposure along with a tilt toward artificial intelligence (AI) trade made the index a stellar performer.
However, iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV and State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY have lost about $15.72 billion and $3.03 billion in assets, respectively. SPY charges quite high at 9 bps, SPYM is the least pricy with 2 bps in fees. While VOO an IVV both charges 3 bps, higher trading volume of VOO leads to tighter bid-ask spread and lower trading costs.
AI Trade Boosts Nasdaq-100
The Nasdaq-100 funds Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ and Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF QQQM have generated about $9.11 billion and $3.24 billion in assets, respectively. However, total bond market ETFs like Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF VTI fetched about $8.45 billion in assets.
Short-Term Treasuries: A Winner
iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF SGOV has garnered assets of $5.93 billion as the Fed rate hikes regained momentum and short-term treasuries offered investors ways to grab higher yields with lower risks. SGOV yields 3.74% annually and charges 9 bps in fees.
Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF VGSH grabbed about $4.45 billion in assets, charges 3 bps in fees and yields 3.82% annually. Long-term treasury ETF iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT, too, generated assets worth $4.41 billion despite a one-month decline of 1.3%.
Gold Glitters
Gold bullion ETF State Street SPDR Gold Shares ETF GLD has garnered about $4.73 billion. GLD has jumped about 8.4% over the past month (as of Aug. 29, 2026). Safe-have demand and a flat greenback have boosted gold prices in the month.
Dividend Wins
Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF SCHD amassed about $4.40 billion in assets while adding about 3% monthly gains. SCHD charges 6 bps in fees and yields 3% annually.
Bitcoin in Fashion
iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT grabbed about $3.1 billion in assets in the month. And why not? After all, the fund returned a hefty 21.8% in the month.
Intermediate Bond ETFs Underperform
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF IEF and Vanguard Intermediate-Term Government Bond ETF VGIT lost about $5.21 billion and $1.87 billion, respectively.
Financials ETF Loses Assets
State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF XLF shed about $2.54 million in assets in the month.
Energy: Another Unloved Sector
State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF XLE witnessed about $857 million in assets gushing out of the fund.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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