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Top-Performing ETFs of Last Week

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Wall Street saw mixed trading last week. The S&P 500 (down 0.2%), the Dow Jones (up 0.9%), the Nasdaq Composite (down 1.9%) and the Russell 2000 (down 0.1%) gained/lost in a moderate range. While rising rate concerns were rife, upbeat economic indicators provided some support to the market.

Americans have been regaining confidence in the U.S. economy. This is especially true as consumer confidence bounced back in December, reversing consecutive declines in October and November to reach its highest level since April.

Plus, U.S. inflation data showed signs of cooling, yet perhaps not substantial enough for the Federal Reserve to slow down their rate-hike path. U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, nudged up 0.1% in November after gaining 0.4% in October, while inflation cooled further.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan all sounded hawkish last week. The ECB raised interest rates by 50 bps during its last monetary policy meeting of 2022, marking a fourth-rate increase, following two consecutive 75bps hikes. ECB might also raise interest rates at the current pace for a while. Bank of Japan (BoJ) also unexpectedly tweaked its bond yield control policy — a move that will allow long-term interest rates to rise more (read: ETFs to Play BoJ’s Surprise Policy Shift).

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

Inverse Tesla

Axs Tesla Bear Daily ETF (TSLQ - Free Report) – Up 20.9%

Tesla shares suffered a disastrous week as shares fell about 20% last week. Tesla lost $85 billion in market value on doubts about chief Elon Musk’s share sales and EV consumer demand, per Financial Times. Tesla was a $1.2-trillion company at the beginning of the year. But it stood at $388.88 billion at the end of last week. CEO Musk’s own heavy selling of Tesla shares to finance his $44-billion acquisition of Twitter as well as growing concerns about the outlook for sales of its cars wreaked havoc on the carmaker.

Long/Short ETFs

Noble Absolute Return ETF – Up 16.3%

The Noble Absolute Return ETF seeks capital appreciation across a full market cycle. As market sentiments were unsteady last week, this defensive fund gained in prices.   

Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF (PFIX - Free Report) – Up 13.5%

U.S. treasury yields jumped last week. The benchmark U.S. treasury yield started the week at 3.57% while it ended the week at 3.75%. As a result, all ETFs that provide protection against rising rates gained last week.

Brazil Small-Cap iShares MSCI ETF (EWZS - Free Report) – Up 12.1%

Brazil’s rallied last week helped by banks and energy companies as investors welcomed cooler-than-expected mid-month inflation data.This raised hopes that the Selic rate could be cut in 2023 despite the sharp increase in public spending for the upcoming government.Brazil’s key equity gauge the Ibovespa logged the best week in over two months, per tradingeconomics.

iPath Cocoa Subindex TR Sm Index ETN – Up 7.7%

Cocoa futures are hovering around a six-month high level, thanks to a weaker dollar and tight domestic supplies.  Recent data showed that ICE-monitored cocoa inventories held in U.S. ports dropped to a 6-1/4 month low in December. Plus, the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) forecasted that global 2021/22 cocoa production dropped 6.8% from a year ago to 4.89 MMT as inclement weather and disease hampered cocoa yield, mainly in Ghana, the world's second-largest grower, per tradingeconomics. All these boosted cocoa prices.

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