S&P Bullish On Two Bank ETFs (IYG, KBWB)

Despite a disappointing April that saw the S&P 500 endure a small loss, data from S&P Capital IQ indicate nearly 610 ETFs had positive year-to-date returns through the first four months of the year, a number that includes 23 funds that were up more than 20% through the end of April. Among the ETFs with a domestic bias that are up more than 20% so far in 2012, S&P Capital IQ gives Overweight ratings to the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index Fund

and the PowerShares KBW Bank Portfolio

. IYG is up more than 21% year-to-date while KBWB is up nearly 23.5%. As of early May 2012, S&P Capital IQ is providing an Overall Ranking on 665 equity ETFs, with 167 of them receiving an overall appraisal of Overweight, the firm said in a research note. Twelve of the ETFs receiving an Overall Ranking of Overweight had a 12-month yield of more than 3%, while 17 of them had a yield of less than 1%, S&P added. Home to 112 stocks, an expense ratio of 0.47% and almost $310 million in assets under management, IYG devotes 24% of its weight to Wells Fargo

and Dow component J.P. Morgan Chase

combined. Citigroup

, Bank of America

and Visa

are the ETF's other top-five holdings. KBWB holds just 24 stocks, but is cheaper than its iShares rival with expenses of 0.35%. The PowerShares fund has $32.1 million in AUM. J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, BofA, Citi and U.S. Bancorp

combine for over a third of KBWB's weight. The note also indicates S&P Capital IQ has an Overweight rating on the Market Vectors India Small-Cap ETF

, which was the top-performing equity-based ETF in the first quarter. In the first quarter, SCIF was up 34%, but following a rough April, the fund is now up 26.1% on a year-to-date basis. The rival EGShares India Small Cap ETF

is up nearly 19% this year. For more on ETFs that are up 20% or more this year, please click

.