Wednesday's ETF Winners & Losers

Exchange-traded funds tracking the retail sector were among the best performers of Wednesday's session, courtesy of a jump in Home Depot(HD).

The home improvement retailer added nearly 7% after extending its stock buyback plan by $22.5 billion. Elsewhere, the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart (WMT), said it will open 1,000 MoneyCenters, which will offer low-cost check cashing, money orders, bill payment and money transfers, in its stores by the end of next year.

The Retail HOLDRs (RTH) was adding $1.59, or 1.5%, to $106.63. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) tacked on 15 cents, or 0.6%, to $27.30. The PowerShares Dynamic Retail (PMR) was higher by 10 cents, or 0.5%, to $20.09.

Elsewhere, the Broadband HOLDRs (BDH) was gaining ground, as holding Qualcomm (QCOM) rose 2.9%, and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) gained nearly 2%. The ETF was recently up 20 cents, or 1.2%, to $16.32.

The Internet HOLDRs (HHH) was also higher thanks to gains in two of its largest holdings. Time Warner (TWX) was up 3%, and Yahoo! (YHOO) was rising 1.3%. The ETF was gaining 62 cents, or 1%, to $61.11.

On the other hand, energy-related ETFs were the biggest losers, as the latest read on crude and gasoline stocks had oil and gas prices moving lower.

The Energy Department's weekly inventory report showed a greater-than-expected gain of 6.9 million barrels in crude inventories. Gasoline stocks rose 1.8 million barrels last week, and distillate stocks rose by only 100,000 barrels. The front-month July crude contract was losing $1.46 to $67.64 a barrel, and gasoline was down 5 cents at $2.18 a gallon.

The Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (DIG) ETF was falling by $3.62, or 3.5%, to $99.32. The iPath S&P Crude Oil Index (OIL) was down 83 cents, or 2.2%, to $37.52. The PowerShares Dynamic Energy Exploration (PXE) lost 50 cents, or 2.3%, to $23.61. The United States Oil (USO) ETF was lower by $1.19, or 2.2%, to $50.93.

The B2B Internet HOLDRs (BHH) was also among the worst performers Wednesday. Holding Ariba (ARBA) eased by more than 1%, and the ETF was recently down 3 cents, or 1.3%, to $2.35.

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