Wednesday's ETF Winners & Losers

The B2B Internet HOLDRs (BHH Quote) exchange-traded fund was the top performer of Wednesday's session, boosted by M&A activity involving one of its major holdings.

Ahead of the open, Oracle (ORCL Quote) said it will acquire Agile Software (AGIL Quote) for $495 million, or $8.10 per share. Recently, Agile was higher by 12% at $7.96, and the B2B Internet HOLDRs was higher by 4 cents, or 1.5%, to $2.08.

The Broadband HOLDRs (BDH Quote) ETF was another of the day's winners. Holding Corning (GLW Quote) was higher after the company reiterated second-quarter guidance that was in line with Wall Street's forecasts. Corning was recently up 1.4%, and the Broadband HOLDRs was gaining 14 cents, or 0.9%, to $16.18.

On the losing side, bundled securities tracking silver and gold were among the worst performers. Silver futures dipped 35 cents to $12.88 an ounce. Gold futures were falling $7.60 to $665.50 an ounce.

The PowerShares DB Base Metals (DBB Quote) ETF was losing 2.5% to $27.22. The iShares Silver Trust (SLV Quote) was down 2.2% to $128.01. The streetTRACKS Gold Shares (GLD Quote) slipped 1.4% to $65.58. The PowerShares DB Silver (DBS Quote) ETF was recently lower by 2.4% to $25.36.

Bundled securities tracking chipmakers were also lower Wednesday, as holding Applied Materials (AMAT Quote) shed 4.6%. Following Tuesday's close, Applied Materials posted second-quarter profits and revenue that topped analysts' expectations. However, the stock fell on lower orders and weak guidance.

The Semiconductor HOLDRs (SMH Quote) ETF was lower by 39 cents, or 1.2%, to $37.17. The PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors (PSI Quote) ETF eased 21 cents, or 1%, to $18.92. The iShares Goldman Sachs Semiconductor (IGW Quote) ETF was recently down 52 cents, or 0.8%, to $64.61.