Thursday's ETF Winners & Losers

Bundled securities tracking semiconductors were among the top performers Thursday, thanks to an analyst upgrade for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD Quote).

AMD jumped nearly 6% after Stifel Nicolaus upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, citing a recovery in second-quarter revenue. The firm also assigned AMD's stock a $17 price target.

Among other chipmakers, Applied Materials (AMAT Quote), Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM Quote), KLA-Tencor (KLAC Quote) and Xilinx (XLNX Quote) were higher by 2.2% or more.

The Ultra Semiconductor ProShares (USD Quote) ETF was adding $2.72, or 3.3%, to $86.31. The iShares Goldman Sachs Semiconductor (IGW Quote) ETF was rising $1.26, or 2%, to $66.82. The Semiconductor HOLDRs (SMH Quote) ETF was 64 cents, or 1.7%, higher at $38.42. The SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD Quote) ETF was recently up 65 cents, or 1.2%, to $53.89.

Energy services and equipment-related ETFs were also trading higher, even as the front-month July crude contract was losing 52 cents to $68.34 a barrel. Gasoline, meanwhile, was up by a penny at $2.24 a gallon.

The Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (DIG Quote) ETF was gaining $1.48, or 1.5%, to $98.64. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil Equipment Index (IEZ Quote) added 37 cents, or 0.6%, to $57.79. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services (XES Quote) ETF was higher by 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $37.05.

On the losing side was the Ultra Financials ProShares (UYG Quote), pressured by losses of 1% or more in Merrill Lynch (MER Quote), Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) and Lehman Brothers (LEH Quote).

The Ultra Financials ProShares ETF was recently down $2.85, or 4.1%, to $67.42. Additionally, the iShares Dow Jones Broker-Dealers (IAI Quote) was down 57 cents, or 1%, to $56.37.

ETFs tracking silver and gold were also among the worst performers. Silver futures fell by 26 cents to $12.99 an ounce. Gold futures were losing $8.60 to $651.40 an ounce.

The PowerShares DB Silver (DBS Quote) ETF was down 50 cents, or 1.9%, to $25.59. The Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX Quote) eased 31 cents, or 0.9%, to $38.38. The iShares Silver Trust (SLV Quote) was down $1.33, or 1.2%, to $129.48. The PowerShares DB Base Metals (DBB Quote) ETF was shedding 41 cents, or 1.5%, to $26.53.