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Top-Performing Leveraged ETFs of Last Week

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Last week was upbeat for Wall Street with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones closing out the week at a record high. Moreover, both indexes logged four successive weeks of gains. The S&P 500 (up 1.37%), the Dow Jones (up 1.18%), the Nasdaq Composite (up 1.1%) and the Russell 2000 (up 0.9%) – all were in green last week (read: April Ushers in Super Gains for S&P 500: ETFs in Focus).

Solid U.S. economic data points and subdued U.S. treasury yields kept the markets charged-up last week. U.S. retail sales recorded the best gains in March in 10 monthsSales surged 9.8% sequentially in March 2021, easily beating market forecasts of a 5.9% increase. The $1,400 checks sent to consumers from mid-March and improvement in the weather after winter storms in Texas and some other parts of the South region in February led to this gain.

Another report revealed that first-time filings for unemployment insurance declined, with the Labor Department reporting 576,000 new jobless claims for the week ended Apr 10, down from the expectation for another 710,000 claim filings. Such upbeat data points have every reason to propagate into the stock market.

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few leveraged ETFs that topped last week.

ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas (BOIL - Free Report) – Up 11.75%

The underlying Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex is intended to reflect the natural gas segment of the commodities market. The index consists of futures contracts on natural gas.

Strong demand in Asia and colder weather in Europe boosted global natural gas prices last week. This, in turn, is also strengthening the outlook for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.

Utilities Bull 3X Direxion (UTSL - Free Report) – Up 11.13%

The underlying Utilities Select Sector Index includes domestic companies from the utilities sector which includes the following industries: electric utilities; multi-utilities; water utilities; independent power producers and energy trades; and gas utilities.

Low rates aided the utilities sector last week.Most importantly, despite the upbeat economic data, U.S. benchmark treasury yields dropped to 1.56% at the close on Apr 15 from the month’s closing high of 1.73%. This actually quelled the rising rate fears. However, the week ended at 1.59% benchmark treasury yield. Since the utilities sector perform well in a low-rate environment, UTSL gained strongly (read: 7 Best Leveraged/Inverse ETFs Up 20% Plus in March).

ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (UCO - Free Report) – Up 11.08%

The underlying Bloomberg WTI Crude Oil Subindex is intended to reflect the crude oil segment of the commodities market. The index consists of futures contracts on crude oil only.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC recently beefed up their global oil demand growth forecasts for 2021 to 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd) and 5.95 million bpd respectively. “The massive overhang in global oil inventories that built up during last year’s COVID-19 demand shock is being worked off, vaccine campaigns are gathering pace and the global economy appears to be on a better footing,” per IEA, as quoted on FX Empire.

Microsectors Gold Miners 3X ETN (GDXU - Free Report) – Up 10.52%

The underlying S-Network MicroSectors Gold Miners Index seeks to provide exposure to the performance of the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF and the VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF.

Gold prices rebounded last week after data revealed a rise in U.S. inflation. The inflationary backdrop in the United States is favorable for gold as the metal is historically viewed as a hedge against inflation. Rising inflation often lowers the value of the concerned currency.

The U.S. dollar has been trading at a multi-week lows against the euro and the yen. A subdued greenback provided yet another leg-up in gold prices (read: 3 Reasons Why Gold ETFs Could Gain Higher).

MSCI Mexico Bull 3X Direxion (MEXX - Free Report) – Up 10.28%

The underlying MSCI Mexico IMI 25/50 Index is designed to measure the performance of the large, mid and small-capitalization segments of the Mexican equity market, covering approximately 99% of its free float-adjusted market capitalization.

Mexico’s official 2021 GDP growth forecast has been raised to 5.3% from the previous 4.6%. Growth forecasts may be revised further higher in the coming months, according to deputy finance minister Gabriel Yorio, thanks to widespread vaccination and constructive developments on the U.S. front, as quoted on bnamericans.com.

U.S. infrastructure bill under the Biden presidency should strengthen the overall trade relation and supply chains across the country’s border with Mexico. The rebound in Chinese activity and commodity prices, and recovering oil prices are the other factors that could buoy the Mexican economy ahead, per the abovementioned source.

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