S&P Retail's benchmark ETF index rose more than 60 percent this year

The SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) index ETF is up more than 60 percent so far this year. The index includes shares of different types of retailers and is weighted equally, with representative companies of the textile sector, from Macy to Abercrombie & Fitch, through Etsy or Gap.

SPDR S&P Retail ETF includes large, mid and small cap stocks. None of its 107 shares represents more than 1.8 percent ownership. SPDR S&P Retail ETF is the largest and most popular index in the retail space, as Zacks analysts note. Its investees include heavyweights such as Amazon (AMZN), Walmart (WMT) or Target (TGT).

Many of the brands to be found in hard-hit shopping malls have a lot to do with the strong performance of the ETF this year. This is the case for Dillard’s (DDS), Macy’s (M), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and brand owner Jared and Kay, jeweler Signet (SIG), which make up some of the fund’s most important weightings. In fact, the value of each of these values has doubled since January 1, according to analyzes cited by CNN.