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After recording a tumultuous week, Wall Street celebrated a triumph on Friday as tech stocks led a rally. But all three major U.S. equity indexes ended the week in negative territory due to lingering uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rate cuts.
The S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq lost 1.0%, 2.3% and Nasdaq retreated 0.8% last week. However, despite these gains, the overall week witnessed losses across all three major indexes as investors reacted to statements from central bank officials that appeared to dampen confidence.
In economic news, March recorded a robust U.S. labor market performance, with employers adding 303,000 jobs— far surpassing economists' expectations — and the unemployment rate decreasing to 3.8%, in addition to meeting wage growth projections.
The market remained volatile throughout the week as investors navigated through economic indicators, corporate updates, and escalating tensions in the Middle East. The US manufacturing sector grew for the first time in one-and-a-half years. Such strong resilience of the U.S. economy lowered chances of sooner-than-expected Fed rate cuts, which in turn kept the broader market edgy (read: 4 Industry ETFs to Play as US Manufacturing Grows in 1.5 Years).
Oil prices remained near six-month highs on Apr 5, 2024, driven by concerns over potential disruptions in supply due to heightened tensions between Israel and Iran. Brent crude futures hovered just below $91 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures traded at just under $87.
Meanwhile, Tesla Inc. (TSLA - Free Report) disappointed investors with its first year-over-year drop in quarterly deliveries since 2020. Global deliveries slumped to the lowest level in nearly two years on the back of worsening demand for electric vehicles (EVs), sparking concerns about the company’s growth prospects this year (read: Tesla Stock Sinks After a Big Q1 Delivery Miss: ETFs in Focus).
Best ETFs of Last Week
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning ETFs of last week.
Silver Mining
iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF (SLVP - Free Report) – Up 15.6%
Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL - Free Report) – Up 13.1%
Silver is more of an industrial metal even though both gold and silver are regarded as safe-haven assets.With the U.S. economic growth on right track anduncertainties regarding rate cuts creating a volatility in the market silver prices had every reason to surge. Since mining stocks often act as leveraged plays of the underlying metal, these ETFs gained last week.
Volatility
iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX - Free Report) – Up 10%
Wall Street was off to a shaky start in Q2. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are in the red so far this quarter. A rally in oil prices and lower chances of sooner-than-expected Fed rate cuts led to this massacre. A key Federal Reserve official signaled on Apr 4, 2024, that the central bank might not need to cut interest rates this year if inflation fails to make further progress toward the 2% target, per a Bloomberg article.
No wonder, volatility ETFs that track the implied volatility of the market. iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX - Free Report) has added about 10% last week.
The benchmark U.S. treasury yields rose last week as it started the week at 4.33% and ended the week at 4.39%. As a result, ETFs that provide protection against rising rates surged last week. The Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF seeks to hedge interest rate movements arising from rising long-term interest rates, and to benefit from market stress when fixed income volatility increases, while providing the potential for income.
Image: Bigstock
Best ETFs of Last Week
After recording a tumultuous week, Wall Street celebrated a triumph on Friday as tech stocks led a rally. But all three major U.S. equity indexes ended the week in negative territory due to lingering uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rate cuts.
The S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq lost 1.0%, 2.3% and Nasdaq retreated 0.8% last week. However, despite these gains, the overall week witnessed losses across all three major indexes as investors reacted to statements from central bank officials that appeared to dampen confidence.
In economic news, March recorded a robust U.S. labor market performance, with employers adding 303,000 jobs— far surpassing economists' expectations — and the unemployment rate decreasing to 3.8%, in addition to meeting wage growth projections.
The market remained volatile throughout the week as investors navigated through economic indicators, corporate updates, and escalating tensions in the Middle East. The US manufacturing sector grew for the first time in one-and-a-half years. Such strong resilience of the U.S. economy lowered chances of sooner-than-expected Fed rate cuts, which in turn kept the broader market edgy (read: 4 Industry ETFs to Play as US Manufacturing Grows in 1.5 Years).
Oil prices remained near six-month highs on Apr 5, 2024, driven by concerns over potential disruptions in supply due to heightened tensions between Israel and Iran. Brent crude futures hovered just below $91 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures traded at just under $87.
Meanwhile, Tesla Inc. (TSLA - Free Report) disappointed investors with its first year-over-year drop in quarterly deliveries since 2020. Global deliveries slumped to the lowest level in nearly two years on the back of worsening demand for electric vehicles (EVs), sparking concerns about the company’s growth prospects this year (read: Tesla Stock Sinks After a Big Q1 Delivery Miss: ETFs in Focus).
Best ETFs of Last Week
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning ETFs of last week.
Silver Mining
iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF (SLVP - Free Report) – Up 15.6%
Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL - Free Report) – Up 13.1%
Silver is more of an industrial metal even though both gold and silver are regarded as safe-haven assets.With the U.S. economic growth on right track anduncertainties regarding rate cuts creating a volatility in the market silver prices had every reason to surge. Since mining stocks often act as leveraged plays of the underlying metal, these ETFs gained last week.
Volatility
iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX - Free Report) – Up 10%
Wall Street was off to a shaky start in Q2. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are in the red so far this quarter. A rally in oil prices and lower chances of sooner-than-expected Fed rate cuts led to this massacre. A key Federal Reserve official signaled on Apr 4, 2024, that the central bank might not need to cut interest rates this year if inflation fails to make further progress toward the 2% target, per a Bloomberg article.
No wonder, volatility ETFs that track the implied volatility of the market. iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX - Free Report) has added about 10% last week.
ETFs to Fight Rising Rates
Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF (PFIX - Free Report) – Up 9.6%
The benchmark U.S. treasury yields rose last week as it started the week at 4.33% and ended the week at 4.39%. As a result, ETFs that provide protection against rising rates surged last week. The Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF seeks to hedge interest rate movements arising from rising long-term interest rates, and to benefit from market stress when fixed income volatility increases, while providing the potential for income.
Uranium Miner
Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM - Free Report) – Up 7.8%
The combination of growing energy needs (low in greenhouse gasses) is fueling global uranium consumption. Uranium can play a role in combating climate change primarily through its use in nuclear generation. Nuclear power plants produce electricity without emitting greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.