Both of the ETF market's currency-hedged Japan equities
ETFs
were among the best-performing funds in the past week, rising above
the broad equity market as Japan continued to work on finding a way
out of decades of deflation.
The WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca:DXJ) and the db
X-trackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca:DBJP) rallied 4.6
percent and 4.5 percent, respectively, in the past five days. DXJ's
performance was accompanied by hefty trading volume.
The gains came as the Dow Jones industrial average tagged on a
mere 35 points in the week, or gains of 0.25 percent, to close
Thursday at 13,860.58.
Japan's new government has made reviving the Japanese economy a
priority through various stimulus measures that are designed to
boost the country's exports and weaken the yen. The funds tapping
into the third-largest economy in the world are also benefiting
from a growing risk-on move toward Asian equities among many
investors.
Indeed, investors have been embracing these strategies, pouring
assets into them as they rise. DXJ attracted over $1 billion in
January alone, and now boasts $2.45 billion in total assets.
Aside from Japan-focused funds, it's worth noting that the
United States Gasoline Fund (NYSEArca:UGA) also had a stellar week
in terms of performance, ranking among the week's top 10 funds.
UGA rallied 5.4 percent in five days, reflecting a soaring
energy sector, which has so far in 2013 been the best-performing
U.S. sector, as IndexUniverse ETF analyst Paul Baiocchi recently
pointed out in a blog.
Gold Miners Lag
On the flip side, gold miner ETFs were some of the
worst-performing funds of the week, mired by expectations of
another 'dismal' earnings season for gold miners,
HardAssetsInvestor.com analyst Sumit Roy said.
'Profits for the miners just haven't kept up with the price of
gold due to rising cost pressures, and that's likely to be evident
again in the coming weeks as these companies report earnings,' Roy
said.
'The two heavyweights in the sector, Barrick Gold and Newmont
Mining, are sitting near 52-week lows,' he added.
The iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Index Fund (NYSEArca:RING)
and the $7.7 billion Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca:GDX)
bled 4.2 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.
Still, one of the worst-performing ETFs this past week was
the iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market ETF (NYSEArca:TUR),
which slipped 8.2 percent in a week when the U.S. stock market rose
slightly.
Turkey is one of the most important economies in the Middle East
and one that has been struggling to insulate itself from a
spillover crisis from neighboring countries like Syria and
Egypt.
TUR is the only ETF in the market today to serve up focused
exposure to Turkish equities. The fund has $838 million in
assets.
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse
Funds and 'lt;1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker |
Name |
Weekly Performance |
Weekly Volume |
AUM ($, mm) |
| VIXY |
ProShares VIX Short-Term |
5.97% |
5,922,512 |
156.17 |
| VNM |
Market Vectors Vietnam |
5.94% |
4,405,664 |
385.69 |
| VIIX |
VelocityShares VIX Short Term ETN |
5.93% |
1,814,428 |
13.71 |
| VXX |
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN |
5.93% |
173,030,180 |
1,110.64 |
| JJN |
iPath Dow Jones-UBS Nickel Total Return ETN |
5.63% |
11,165 |
6.43 |
| UGA |
United States Gasoline |
5.37% |
224,248 |
70.09 |
| DXJ |
WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity |
4.68% |
11,960,356 |
2,452.91 |
| DBJP |
db X-trackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity |
4.51% |
51,495 |
5.62 |
| PXE |
PowerShares Dynamic Energy Exploration &
Production |
4.09% |
316,630 |
90.96 |
| EWD |
iShares MSCI Sweden |
4.04% |
1,263,973 |
395.45 |
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse
Funds and 'lt;1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker |
Name |
Weekly Performance |
Weekly Volume |
AUM ($, mm) |
| GRN |
iPath Global Carbon ETN |
-23.23% |
8,301 |
0.49 |
| TUR |
iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market |
-8.18% |
3,421,209 |
838.88 |
| TAN |
Guggenheim Solar |
-4.57% |
415,471 |
63.36 |
| GAZ |
iPath Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas Total Return ETN |
-4.40% |
370,962 |
35.40 |
| KWT |
Market Vectors Solar Energy |
-4.32% |
29,228 |
12.46 |
| RING |
iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners |
-4.21% |
135,896 |
28.37 |
| GDX |
Market Vectors Gold Miners |
-3.69% |
102,703,310 |
7,700.84 |
| UNG |
United States Natural Gas |
-3.34% |
40,844,132 |
1,074.22 |
| CHIM |
Global X China Materials |
-3.28% |
29,408 |
2.75 |
| PSAU |
PowerShares Global Gold and Precious Metals |
-3.25% |
29,944 |
33.84 |
Disclaimer:All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the
article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however,
transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and
correction by the exchanges.
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