Wednesday's ETF Winners & Losers

ETFs related to oil services were among the strongest performers Wednesday as crude futures spiked higher. The SPDR Oil & Gas Equipment & Services(XES) ETF was adding 2% to $26.72. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil Equipment Index(IEZ) ETF was gaining 1.9% to $41.74, and the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration(IEO) ETF was higher by 1.8% to $45.28.

The Biotech HOLDRs(BBH) ETF was among winners as major holding Genentech(DNA) rose 3.7% after Jefferies upped its stock price target for the company to $106. The Biotech HOLDRs was adding $3.17, or 1.8%, to $183.65.

The PowerShares Lux Nanotech(PXN) ETF was also higher, thanks to a 12.7% surge in holding Nucryst Pharmaceuticals(NCST). The ETF was higher by 25 cents, or 1.5%, to $17.24.

On the downside, ETFs related to housing construction were the biggest losers, after the Commerce Department said new-home sales rose 4.1% to 1.05 million annualized units in August. However, July new-home sales were revised down by 63,000 to just 1.01 million units. Both May and June sales data were also revised lower.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction(ITB) ETF was falling by $1.12, or 2.9%, to $37.80. The SPDR Homebuilders(XHB) ETF was lower by 83 cents, or 2.4%, to $33.45.

Also, the Telecom HOLDRs(TTH) ETF was among the losers as holdings BellSouth(BLS), AT&T(T), Level 3 Communications(LVLT) and Verizon(VZ) fell.

The Telecom HOLDRs was losing 79 cents, or 2.3%, to $32.95.

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