ETFs
4 Best ETF Areas of the Last Week
Wall Street was upbeat last week with the S&P 500 up 1.9%, the Dow Jones up 2.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.1%. More importantly, the Dow just had its best week of 2024. On Friday, the Dow posted its eighth consecutive session of gains.
While most of the 30 members of the Dow Jones Index performed well over the past seven days, the Dow’s rally was primarily driven by Amgen AMGN, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, Apple Inc. (AAPL), Boeing BA and The Goldman Sachs Group GS.
When it comes to company-specific news, Apple has attracted a lot of attention. The company revealed a new iPad lineup for the first time in two years. The tech giant has launched two new versions of its high-end iPad Pro models and two new versions of its mid-range iPad Air. It also launched the Apple Pencil Pro stylus and an updated Magic Keyboard case for the iPad Pro line.
Among the US economic data, we received pessimistic data on consumer confidence. Sentiment has fallen to its lowest level in six months. The University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index for May reported an initial reading of 67.4 for the month, down from 77.2 in April and well below the Dow Jones consensus which predicted 76.
Fed officials reaffirmed their stance in favor of higher rates for a longer period of time. Policymaker Neel Kashkari signaled that rates were likely to remain at historic highs for some time. Boston Fed President Susan Collins also supported the idea, saying it will take longer “than expected” to bring down inflation (read: ETFs to bet on Dow’s longest winning streak Jones in 2024).
Meanwhile, U.S. companies are enjoying their best earnings season in nearly two years. With 80% of S&P 500 companies already reporting earnings, the index is on track to record 5% earnings per share growth per FactSet in the first quarter, as cited on Yahoo Finance.
This is the largest year-over-year increase since the second quarter of 2022 and above the 3.2% growth that analysts expected before the start of the season (read: It time to exploit Wall Street ETFs on earnings strength?).
Against this backdrop, we present below some winning ETFs from the past week.
Focus on ETFs
Minors
iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF SLVP – Up 8.7%
VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF GDXJ – Up 6.7%
U.S. Treasury yields remained low for most of the week. This enhanced the strength of gold and silver bars. While mining stocks act as leveraged plays on the underlying metal, leveraged mining companies dominated the returns scorecard last week.
Shipping
SonicShares Global Shipping ETF BOAT – Up 7.7%
The story continues
Shipping companies have been the best performing stocks of late as rerouting of ships following attacks in the Red Sea has driven up freight rates.
Industrial
First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF AIRR – Up 5.8%
The drop in interest rates last week helped sectors that rely on huge borrowing. The Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance Underlying Index measures the performance of small- and mid-cap U.S. companies in the industrial and community banking sectors.
Natural gas
United States Natural Gas Fund LP UNG – Up 5.4%
Natural gas prices are hovering around 14-week highs, driven by a combination of supply and demand factors that are beginning to chip away at excess storage. The underlying natural gas price index is the natural gas futures contract traded on the NYMEX.
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The Boeing Company (BA): Free Stock Analysis Report
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report
Amgen Inc. (AMGN): Free Stock Analysis Report
VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ): ETF Research Reports
iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF (SLVP): ETF Research Reports
First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF (AIRR): ETF Research Reports
US Natural Gas ETF (UNG): ETF Research Reports
SonicShares Global Shipping ETF (BOAT): ETF Research Reports