Winners & Losers

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Wednesday's ETF Winners & Losers

Robert Holmes

Bundled securities tracking the energy sector were among the best performers of the day as oil rose amid building concerns about the 15 British service members still being held captive by Iran.

The iPath Goldman Sachs Crude Oil Index (OIL Quote) ETF rose 1.7% to $38.03. The United States Oil (USO Quote) ETF was adding 1.7% to $52.06. The front-month May crude contract was recently adding $1.27 to $64.20 a barrel.

ETFs tracking metals and mining were stronger Wednesday as gold moved higher by $4 to $672.80 an ounce and silver tacked on 17 cents to $13.45 an ounce.

The iShares Silver Trust (SLV Quote) was up 1% to $133.16. The Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX Quote) ETF was gaining 0.6% to $39.69. The iShares COMEX Gold Trust (IAU Quote) ETF was adding 0.5% to $66.10, and the streetTRACKS Gold Shares (GLD Quote) ETF was rising 0.5% to $66.01.

On the flip side, ETFs tracking homebuilders were the worst performers. Before the session began, Beazer Homes (BZH Quote) said it has received a request for documents from the U.S. attorney, who has started a criminal investigation into its lending. The stock was falling 9.5%, dragging other housing names lower with it.

The SPDR Homebuilders (XHB Quote) ETF was sliding 2.2% at $32.86. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction(ITB Quote) ETF was recently down 2.2% at $34.72.

Meanwhile, the Retail HOLDRs (RTH Quote) ETF was falling 1% as Wal-Mart (WMT Quote), Lowe's (LOW Quote) and Federated (FD Quote) were shedding 1.4% or more. The ETF was recently lower by $1.03 at $101.44.