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Best Inverse/Leveraged ETF Areas of Last Week

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Wall Street displayed a mixed performance last week with the S&P 500 offering 0.2%, the Dow Jones nudging up 0.1% and the Nasdaq gaining losing 0.14%. The latest report on fourth quarter GDP for the year 2023, released Thursday morning, revealed that the US economy expanded at a 3.4% rate, up from the previous estimate of 3.2%.

The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy rose 2.8% on a 12-month basis and was up 0.3% sequentially, matching estimates. Core PCE was up 0.3% for the month and 2.5% at the 12-month rate, compared to estimates for 0.4% and 2.5%, per CNBC.

In terms of employment, initial jobless claims for the last week stood at 210,000, slightly below the estimated 212,000. Overall, the steady economic growth and contained inflation strengthened the bets for Fed rate cuts this year. U.S. treasury yield fell to 4.20% on Mar 28, 2024, after starting the week at 4.22% and hitting a weekly closing high of 4.25% on Mar 25.

Meanwhile, gold gained last week withgold bullion ETFSPDR Gold Shares (GLD - Free Report) gaining 2.2%. The reason behind the rally is the rise of the geopolitical risk, be it Hamas & Israel or Russia - Ukraine. The central banks have consistently bought gold. Notably, gold is viewed as a safe haven asset.

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

ETFs in Focus

2x Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITX - Free Report) – Up 15.5%

The ETF launches in January have offered stability in the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is slated for the having event in April. Many investors believe the cryptocurrency may see a solid surge before having. The biggest cryptocurrency jumped to the level of $71,675 on Mar 27.

MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETN (GDXU - Free Report) – Up 15.3%

As the gold prices gained last week, leveraged miners’ ETFs rose. This happened because mining stocks often act as leveraged plays of the underlying metal.

ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Natural Gas (KOLD - Free Report) – Up 10.1%

Natural gas prices plummeted to below $1.80 early last week. The move was caused by remarks from Fed's Waller, which indicated that anticipated rate cuts won't materialize swiftly. This dims prospects for a rapid economic rebound and hampers growth expectations, leading to constrained demand for nature gas. Additional downward pressure happened due to weather concerns. As the heating season ends, there will be slowdown in gas markets in summer.

Direxion Daily Utilities Bull 3X Shares (UTSL - Free Report) – Up 8.6%

The utilities sector has been an area to watch lately given the bouts of volatility that bodes well for the utility stocks. Utilities is relatively protected from large swings (ups and downs) in the stock market and is thus considered a defensive investment or one that is unaffected by economic cycles and politics. Additionally, utilities offer solid dividend payouts and excellent capital appreciation over the longer term. The sector is rate-sensitive and should thus do well given the Fed’s current dovish comments.

MAX Airlines 3X Leveraged ETNs (JETU - Free Report) – Up 7.3%

According to the World Airport Traffic Forecasts’ 2023-2052 report, as quoted on the Business Traveller, global air passenger traffic is anticipated to achieve a milestone by the end of 2024, reaching 9.7 billion and surpassing the pre-pandemic levels. Plus, Easter travel made this ETF a winning one last week (read: Adventure Awaits: Ride the Tourism Wave With These ETFs).


 

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