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Best-Performing ETF Areas of Last Week That Are Up At Least 10%
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Wall Street logged a downbeat performance last week.The S&P 500 declined 0.3%, and the Dow edged lower by 0.2%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.7%, marking the first weekly loss in four weeks for the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, as quoted on CNBC.
Inflation Data in Focus
August’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, came in largely as expected. Core PCE, barring food and energy, rose at an annual rate of 2.9%, while the all-items index recorded a 2.7% increase year over year and a 0.3% monthly gain. These readings reaffirmed expectations for two quarter-point interest rate cuts by year-end, per the CNBC article.
Consumer Sentiment
Consumer sentiment for September, reported by the University of Michigan, was only slightly weaker than expected and held steady among households with larger stock holdings. The survey’s index of consumer sentiment recorded a 55.1 reading, below the Dow Jones consensus forecast of 55.4 (as quoted on CNBC).
That marked a 5.3% decline month over month and a 21.6% slump from the same period a year ago.Inflation expectations held stable, with the one-year outlook at 4.7% and the five-year at 3.7%, as quoted in the above-mentioned CNBC article.
Upbeat GDP Growth Data
Thanks to stronger consumer spending, the U.S. economy grew at an unexpectedly robust 3.8% clip in Q2 of 2025, marking an upward revision of second-quarter growth.
The Commerce Department said that gross domestic product (GDP) bounced back in the spring after a 0.6% decline in the first quarter, which had been hit hard by trade tensions. The new estimate is higher than the previously reported 3.3% growth(per AP news, as quoted on Yahoo Finance).
Fed Rate Cut to Address Weakening Labor Market
The Fed enacted its first rate cut of 2025 in September and also hinted at further cuts this year.At the time of writing, there are 87.7% chances of a 25-bp rate cut in the October meeting, per the CME FedWatch Tool.
Moderate Comeback of Tariff Tensions
In a trio of posts on Truth Social on Sept. 25, 2025, President Trump announced that the U.S. will roll out a host of tariffs starting Oct. 1. The measures will cover imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, pharmaceutical products, and heavy trucks. Tariffs will range from 30% to 100%, though exemptions will apply to drugmakers currently building manufacturing plants in the United States, as quoted on Yahoo Finance.
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of the last week.
Platinum hit its highest level in late September since 2013, as concerns over supply-demand imbalances aggravated. Declining mine output and sluggish recycling led to this spike. The World Platinum Investment Council projects South Africa’s mine supply to fall 6% this year, as quoted on tradingeconomics.
The use catalytic converters in the auto sector is one of the main applications for platinum and palladium. Now, electric vehicles (EVs) do not use catalytic converters. With the Trump administration not favoring EVs, the need and demand for catalytic converters should rise, which in turn should boost platinum and palladium prices.
Palladium prices have been rising on supply crunch and a rebound in industrial demand. Geopolitical tensions and the resultant production issues in key mining regions continue to weigh on the output, as quoted on tradingeconomics.com.
The tradingeconomics article continued to highlight that S&P Global raised the 2025-2026 vehicle production forecasts in mid-September for major regions outside South America. The increase in projection was mainly due to policy support in China, as well as strong vehicle production and steady consumption in North America.
The lithium sector has recently grabbed the spotlight as Lithium Americas (LAC) shares skyrocketed following reports that the Trump administration may take an equity stake in the company’s Thacker Pass mine in Nevada(as quoted on a Carbon Credits article). If confirmed, it would mark one of the most significant U.S. government interventions in mining in years, highlighting lithium’s rising importance as critical mineral in global markets.
Silver’s usage serves both as a safe-haven metal and as an industrial metal. With the global market remaining edgy due to trade tensions and President Trump’s several policies, the safe-haven demand remains strong. Meanwhile, the industrial metal’s importance is also on the rise, with activities remaining strong.
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Best-Performing ETF Areas of Last Week That Are Up At Least 10%
Wall Street logged a downbeat performance last week.The S&P 500 declined 0.3%, and the Dow edged lower by 0.2%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.7%, marking the first weekly loss in four weeks for the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, as quoted on CNBC.
Inflation Data in Focus
August’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, came in largely as expected. Core PCE, barring food and energy, rose at an annual rate of 2.9%, while the all-items index recorded a 2.7% increase year over year and a 0.3% monthly gain. These readings reaffirmed expectations for two quarter-point interest rate cuts by year-end, per the CNBC article.
Consumer Sentiment
Consumer sentiment for September, reported by the University of Michigan, was only slightly weaker than expected and held steady among households with larger stock holdings. The survey’s index of consumer sentiment recorded a 55.1 reading, below the Dow Jones consensus forecast of 55.4 (as quoted on CNBC).
That marked a 5.3% decline month over month and a 21.6% slump from the same period a year ago.Inflation expectations held stable, with the one-year outlook at 4.7% and the five-year at 3.7%, as quoted in the above-mentioned CNBC article.
Upbeat GDP Growth Data
Thanks to stronger consumer spending, the U.S. economy grew at an unexpectedly robust 3.8% clip in Q2 of 2025, marking an upward revision of second-quarter growth.
The Commerce Department said that gross domestic product (GDP) bounced back in the spring after a 0.6% decline in the first quarter, which had been hit hard by trade tensions. The new estimate is higher than the previously reported 3.3% growth(per AP news, as quoted on Yahoo Finance).
Fed Rate Cut to Address Weakening Labor Market
The Fed enacted its first rate cut of 2025 in September and also hinted at further cuts this year.At the time of writing, there are 87.7% chances of a 25-bp rate cut in the October meeting, per the CME FedWatch Tool.
Moderate Comeback of Tariff Tensions
In a trio of posts on Truth Social on Sept. 25, 2025, President Trump announced that the U.S. will roll out a host of tariffs starting Oct. 1. The measures will cover imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, pharmaceutical products, and heavy trucks. Tariffs will range from 30% to 100%, though exemptions will apply to drugmakers currently building manufacturing plants in the United States, as quoted on Yahoo Finance.
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of the last week.
Platinum
GraniteShares Platinum Trust (PLTM - Free Report) – Up 12%
abrdn Physical Platinum Shares ETF (PPLT - Free Report) – Up 12%
Platinum hit its highest level in late September since 2013, as concerns over supply-demand imbalances aggravated. Declining mine output and sluggish recycling led to this spike. The World Platinum Investment Council projects South Africa’s mine supply to fall 6% this year, as quoted on tradingeconomics.
The use catalytic converters in the auto sector is one of the main applications for platinum and palladium. Now, electric vehicles (EVs) do not use catalytic converters. With the Trump administration not favoring EVs, the need and demand for catalytic converters should rise, which in turn should boost platinum and palladium prices.
Palladium
abrdn Physical Palladium Shares ETF (PALL - Free Report) – Up 10.6%
Palladium prices have been rising on supply crunch and a rebound in industrial demand. Geopolitical tensions and the resultant production issues in key mining regions continue to weigh on the output, as quoted on tradingeconomics.com.
The tradingeconomics article continued to highlight that S&P Global raised the 2025-2026 vehicle production forecasts in mid-September for major regions outside South America. The increase in projection was mainly due to policy support in China, as well as strong vehicle production and steady consumption in North America.
Lithium Miners
Sprott Lithium Miners ETF (LITP - Free Report) – Up 10.3%
The lithium sector has recently grabbed the spotlight as Lithium Americas (LAC) shares skyrocketed following reports that the Trump administration may take an equity stake in the company’s Thacker Pass mine in Nevada(as quoted on a Carbon Credits article). If confirmed, it would mark one of the most significant U.S. government interventions in mining in years, highlighting lithium’s rising importance as critical mineral in global markets.
Silver Miners
Sprott Silver Miners & Physical Silver ETF (SLVR - Free Report) – Up 10.2%
Silver’s usage serves both as a safe-haven metal and as an industrial metal. With the global market remaining edgy due to trade tensions and President Trump’s several policies, the safe-haven demand remains strong. Meanwhile, the industrial metal’s importance is also on the rise, with activities remaining strong.