Credit: Shutterstock photoE TFs holding oil and gas stocks bounced off multiyear lows Tuesday as commodity prices recovered. Brent crude hit its lowest levels since 2004 on Monday amid intensifying worries about a supply glut. The average gasoline price, which is tied to Brent, had fallen Monday below $2 a gallon to a six-year low.
Oil prices stabilized on Tuesday, with both Brent and U.S. crude prices showing modest signs of recovery. Still, an unusually warm winter in both the United States and Europe is reportedly adding to worries about the outlook for energy commodities.
United States Oil Fund ( USO ) rose 1% in below-average volume on the stock market today . It offers exposure to oil using derivatives.
Despite modest gains so far this week, USO and its energy ETF peers are stuck in bear market territory.
Shares of USO have almost halved in value in the past year. The fund fell to a new 52-week low of 10.52 Monday.
Energy Select Sector SPDR ( XLE ) gained 1.2% as oil prices crept up.
Its two largest holdings,Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) andChevron ( CVX ), posted gains on Tuesday, as did virtually all other top 25 holdings in the XLE portfolio.
XLE is 29% off its May high of 83.66 on the back of three straight weeks of losses.
SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ( XES ) jumped 4.2%.
The ETF holds 42 stocks, with a big stake in smaller cap drilling companies. It's trading 43% off its May high.
All 11 Select SPDR ETFs tracking S&P 500 sectors bagged gains Tuesday. Industrials raced up 1.4%, health care trailed with a 0.7% advance.
Apple Woes
Another analyst downgrade forApple (AAPL) Tuesday weighed on tech-heavyPowerShares QQQ (QQQ) and diversified technology ETFs.
Apple stock eased 0.1% amid warnings from a UBS analyst that the iconic iPhone faces headwinds.
Google search traffic for the iPhone is slowing in the United States, and growth in searches has fallen sharply in China -- from 80% growth to 15%, CNBC reported, citing UBS analyst Steven Milunovich.
Gold And Dollar
The largest ETFs backed by physical gold fell a fraction Tuesday.
Despite modest gains for stocks generally, ETF investors showed little enthusiasm for safe-haven assets including the dollar and investment-grade bonds. Junk bond ETFs rose in healthy volume.
10 Bellwether ETFs
Here's a look at how the major exchange traded funds tracking various asset classes performed today.
Following daily ETF market action can be key to successful investing .
SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), +0.9%, RS 67
PowerShares QQQ (QQQ), +0.7%, RS 80
SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA), +1.0%, RS 67
IShares Core S&P Mid-Cap (IJH), +1.0%, RS 52
IShares Russell 2000 (IWM), +0.9%, RS 49
IShares MSCI EAFE (EFA), +0.8%, RS 49
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (VWO), +0.8%, RS 33
SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), -0.5%, RS 49
IShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond (AGG), -0.1%, RS 67
PowerShares DB U.S. $ Bullish (UUP), -0.2%, RS 78
Follow Aparna Narayanan on Twitter @IBD_ANarayanan .
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.