Emerging market exchange-traded funds focused on Asia were among
the best-performing ETFs in the week ended Thursday, Aug. 2, amid
uncertainties surrounding economic growth prospects for the U.S.
and Europe.
Funds like the iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund
(NYSEArca:EWY) and the iShares MSCI Taiwan Index Fund
(NYSEArca:EWT) shined through the fog, tagging on gains of 7
percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. The broader iShares MSCI
Emerging Markets Asia Index Fund (NYSEArca:EEMA) was another top-10
performer.
In a broad sense, the markets remained focused on what Europe
will do to deal with the debt crisis that has threatened the
stability of the eurozone, especially since the European central
bank served up strong rhetoric last week that it would do whatever
it took to protect the euro.
But an ECB meeting this week yielded little more than talk of
intentions, a reticence that was also seen coming from the U.S.
Federal Reserve regarding the possibility of quantitative easing
measures ahead.
The lack of clear direction had the Dow Jones industrial average
trading both sides of the market all week, and ending the
Thursday-to-Thursday period largely unchanged, down a mere 9
points, or 0.07 percent, at 12,878.88.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca:SPY)-the largest ETF in the
world, with $101.31 billion in assets-was one of the week's
worst-performing ETFs, shedding more than 5 percent of its
value.
It's worth noting that a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report
for July had the Dow rallying more than 1.5 percent Friday, but
IndexUniverse's weekly data tally covers a Thursday-to-Thursday
period.
Another interesting note this week comes courtesy of India. As
that country battled with a crippling blackout for days, the
EGShares India Infrastructure ETF (NYSEArca:INXX) was one of the
best-performing ETFs in the past week, gaining 4.7 percent in the
period. INXX has now $51 million in assets.
On the flip side, natural gas funds were some of the week's
worst-performing strategies. The $1.2 billion United States Natural
Gas Fund (NYSEArca:UNG) bled more than 5.5 percent of its value,
with some 18 million shares trading hands, on average, daily.
The Teucrium Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca:NAGS) and the United
States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca:UNL) also found
themselves on this week's bottom- performers list.
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and
'lt;1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker |
Name |
Weekly Performance |
Weekly Volume |
AUM ($, mm) |
| NIB |
iPath Dow Jones-UBS Cocoa Total Return ETN |
7.97% |
130,869 |
26.26 |
| CHOC |
iPath Pure Beta Cocoa ETN |
7.33% |
37,104 |
3.24 |
| EWY |
iShares MSCI South Korea |
6.94% |
8,861,042 |
2,590.05 |
| AAIT |
iShares MSCI All Country Asia Information Technology |
5.80% |
1,671 |
4.99 |
| EWT |
iShares MSCI Taiwan |
5.38% |
31,884,633 |
2,044.97 |
| AIA |
iShares S&P Asia 50 |
5.06% |
47,082 |
190.76 |
| GAZ |
iPath Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas Total Return ETN |
4.98% |
525,752 |
39.80 |
| EEMA |
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Asia |
4.87% |
61,345 |
20.10 |
| UGA |
United States Gasoline |
4.83% |
187,335 |
82.56 |
| INXX |
EGShares India Infrastructure |
4.67% |
85,561 |
51.15 |
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse
Funds and 'lt;1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker |
Name |
Weekly Performance |
Weekly Volume |
AUM ($, mm) |
| XLY |
Consumer Discretionary Select SPDR |
-9.73% |
38,731,247 |
2,894.92 |
| XBI |
SPDR S&P Biotech |
-6.42% |
2,177,428 |
697.97 |
| VXX |
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN |
-6.37% |
198,553,029 |
1,566.34 |
| UNG |
United States Natural Gas |
-5.51% |
89,058,297 |
1,272.13 |
| NAGS |
Teucrium Natural Gas Fund |
-5.33% |
46,508 |
3.53 |
| SPY |
SPDR S&P 500 |
-5.09% |
801,976,963 |
101,316.06 |
| PBE |
PowerShares Dynamic Biotech & Genome Portfolio |
-5.01% |
84,442 |
130.10 |
| UNL |
United States 12 Month Natural Gas |
-4.93% |
194,065 |
45.79 |
| PSCE |
PowerShares S&P SmallCap Energy |
-4.84% |
31,458 |
41.12 |
| FBT |
First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology |
-4.83% |
546,392 |
242.59 |
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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