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5 Best ETF Areas of Last Week

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Wall Street was upbeat last week. The S&P 500 (up 0.8%), the Dow Jones (up 0.2%), the Nasdaq (up 1.2%) and the Russell 2000 (up 2.5%) were all in the positive territory. The optimism surrounding the likely Fed rate cuts in 2024 aided the rally in the market, barring some occasional dips.

Meanwhile, Wall Street has witnessed the Santa Claus rally. December kicked off on a positive note, with the S&P 500 showing nearly a 4% increase leading up to Friday's trading session. It's worth noting that the days encompassing the Christmas holidays tend to have a strong historical track record of positive market performance.

Looking back at 1988, the second day before Christmas, which happened to be yesterday this year, stood out as particularly bullish, with the S&P 500 registering gains more than 70% of the time over the past 35 years. Last Friday marked the beginning of the official Santa Claus Rally.

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few top-performing ETFs of last week.

ETFs in Focus

Cryptocurrency – Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI - Free Report) – Up 27.0%

After an astounding 2023, bitcoin is expected to continue its bullish run in 2024. Bitcoin having is scheduled for Apr 2024. There is growing optimism that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will approve a spot Bitcoin ETF in early 2024.

Potential Fed rate cuts would favor the cryptocurrency investing. Increased institutional adoption as well as more and more global adoption of cryptocurrency are other tailwinds. All these factors have probably boosted bitcoin miners ETF (read: Bitcoin ETFs Set to Explode in 2024 After a Marvelous 2023).

Shipping – SonicShares Global Shipping ETF (BOAT - Free Report) – Up 10.6%

The series of ship attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea could lower global shipping capacity by 20%, according to experts, as quoted on Nikkei. No wonder, this has pushed up shipping charges and benefitting the margins of shipping companies.

Carbon Offset Strategy – KraneShares Global Carbon Strategy ETF (KRBN - Free Report) – Up 9.4%

As countries strive to reduce emissions, carbon allowances stand to benefit. Most major carbon allowance markets have built-in tightening mechanisms that decrease the supply of allowances over time. The combination of a reduced supply and increasing demand is likely to exert upward pressure on the price of carbon allowances in the years to come.

Cap-and-trade markets issue carbon allowances equivalent to one ton of carbon dioxide. Participants must account for their emissions at the end of each year through an equivalent amount of carbon allowances. Regulated and mandatory, these markets encompass various industries.

Mining – SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME - Free Report) – Up 6.3%

As the U.S. dollar dived last week on hopes of a dovish Fed next year, the price of the U.S. dollar slumped. This, in turn, has boosted the price of metal. As the mining companies often act as leveraged plays of underlying metal, XME had every reason to outperform.  

Genomics – ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG - Free Report) – Up 6.0%

There were a set of key news in the pharma field last week. Bristol Myers Squibb to buy Karuna Therapeutics for $14 billion in cash. Plus, fears of rise of new variant of Covid-19 in India as well as United States probably have boosted the biotech space altogether.

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