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Top Leveraged ETFs of Last Week

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Despite a stupendous oil rally, last week was quite downbeat for the broader market. The S&P 500 (down 5.6%), Dow Jones (down 6.2%) and Nasdaq (down 5%) were all in the negative territory. Rise in coronavirus cases globally was the primary reason for the declines. Against this backdrop, we highlight a few leveraged ETFs that gained in the week.

Oil — ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (UCO - Free Report) — Up 64.44%

After being battered by the global price war instigated by the Saudi Arabia and Russia, oil prices bounced back on Apr 2 with more than a 25% rally (a record single-day jump) on Trump’s tweets that indicate chances of an end to the price war. Thanks to such a monumental one-day rise, the entire energy sector picked up last week (read: Will Oil Continue Riding the Trump Mojo? ETFs in Focus).

Russia — Direxion Daily Russia Bull 2X Shares RUSL — Up 19.53%

Russia, the energy-rich nation, has probably seen its stocks rally last week on hopes of a recovery in oil price. The underlying MVIS Russia Index is a rules-based index, intended to represent the overall performance of publically-traded companies that are domiciled and primarily listed on an exchange in Russia or that are not Russian companies, but nonetheless generate at least 50% of their revenues in Russia.

Consumer Staples — Direxion Daily Consumer Staples Bull 3XShrs — Up 8.2%

It is a non-cyclical sector and is likely to be less hammered by any market crash. The sector emerged as a true safe haven amid the latest crisis as people on self-quarantine need daily essentials at the least (read: Investors Love These ETF Areas Amid Virus-Led Bear Market).

Healthcare — Direxion Daily Healthcare Bull 3X Shares (CURE - Free Report) — Up 4.8%

With the coronavirus outbreak spreading rapidly, the entire world is striving to come up with a vaccine or medicine. Notably, the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 was made in 63 days by Moderna Inc. (MRNA - Free Report) . The first participant in the Phase 1 trial received a dose of the vaccine candidate on Mar 16. However, the Phase 1 clinical trial is expected to conclude on Jun 1, 2021.Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) also announced that it selected a lead vaccine candidate for COVID-19 on Mar 30. Then there is experimental COVID-19 drug Remdesivir from Gilead (GILD - Free Report) . Also, a large increase in demand for testing kits is being observed (read: Biotech Stocks & ETFs to Gain on Progress in COVID-19 Vaccine Development).

China — Direxion Daily FTSE China Bull 3X Shares (YINN - Free Report) — Up 4.6%

Despite being the epicenter of the pandemic, China stocks beat Wall Street in Q1 surprisingly, having lost only 11% in dollar terms. Notably, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones lost about 20% and 23.2%, respectively, in Q1. China's central bank unexpectedly cut the key rate by 20 basis points at March-end, the largest in nearly five years, in order to infuse $10 billion into the money markets. On Apr 3, China's central bank cut the amount of cash that small banks must hold as reserves, releasing around 400 billion yuan ($56.38 billion) in liquidity (read: These China ETFs Hardly Felt Any Coronavirus Pain in Q1).

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