Wall Street offered a flat performance last week with the S&P 500 (down 0.1%), the Dow Jones (down 0.23%), the Nasdaq (down 0.4%) and the Russell 2000 (up 0.6%) returning in the range of down 0.4% to up 0.6%. Presently, Wall Street is preoccupied with the earnings season and has received varied corporate results. Though most companies exceeded the modest predictions of analysts, investors were left unsettled by the absence of forecasts from major companies.

U.S. banking earnings have probably not been so awaited since the 2008 financial crisis. Investors’ view toward the banking sector has dwindled this year, thanks to the U.S. regional banking crisis emanating in March 2023. However, much to the pleasant surprises of investors, as many as five out of six big U.S. banks were able to beat overall, while one bank came up with mixed results (read: Time for Big Bank ETFs on Upbeat Earnings?).

Meanwhile, China's economy showed a significant increase in the first quarter of 2023. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.5% in Q1, which is the highest growth rate since the same period last year, when the economy grew by 4.8%. This growth rate is also better than 4%, which was forecast in a Reuters’ poll. Additionally, the economy grew 2.2% sequentially (read: China on High Growth Trajectory: ETFs That Are in Momentum).

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning inverse/leveraged ETFs of last week.

ETFs in Focus

S&P Biotech Bull 3X Direxion (LABU Quick QuoteLABU - Free Report) ) – Up 15.8%

The biopharma space is hot with mergers and acquisitions currently. In the first quarter of this year, total healthcare and life sciences M&A in the United States was about $71 billion, more than double the $28 billion seen in the same quarter last year, according to KPMG, as quoted on barrons.com. Plus, solid pipeline of research and developments and incorporation of AI in their R&D division have also been driving prices.

Homebuilders & Suppliers Bull 3X Direxion (NAIL Quick QuoteNAIL - Free Report) ) – Up 15.6%

Existing US home sales fell 2.4% sequentially to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.44 million in March of 2023, compared to market forecasts of 4.5 million. In February, sales rose a downwardly revised 13.8% which was the biggest surge since July of 2020. The median existing-home price for all housing types was $375,700, a decline of 0.9% from March 2022. About 65% of homes sold in March were on the market for less than a month and first-time buyers contributed to 28% of sales, up from 27% in February. This showed the struggling housing market is trying to mark a rebound.

Microsectors Gold Miners -3X ETN (GDXD Quick QuoteGDXD - Free Report) ) – Up 14.7%

Gold prices eased last week as the greenback gained some strength. Banking crisis looks to subside. Recessionary prices are currently baked in the gold’s valuation. Higher treasury yields have also weighed on gold’s prices. As a result, inverse/leveraged gold mining ETF jumped last week.

Microsectors U.S. Big Oil Index -3X ETN (NRGD Quick QuoteNRGD - Free Report) ) – Up 13%

Oil prices logged a slump last week on fears of recession and slower oil demand. Soft US economic data, along with expectations of interest rate hikes triggered worries over a recession that could act as headwind to the oil demand.

Ultrashort MSCI Brazil Capped -2X ETF (BZQ Quick QuoteBZQ - Free Report) ) – Up 11.5%

For the week, the Brazilian real dropped 2.8% amid worries about President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's new fiscal framework and disappointing economic data. This led lira to be the biggest decliner among Latin American currencies. A strong greenback has also weighed on lira and Brazilan stocks.