Thursday's ETF Winners & Losers

Exchange-traded funds tracking basic materials were the best performers of Thursday's session, thanks to major M&A headlines.

Mining concern Rio Tinto (RTP Quote) said it will buy aluminum producer Alcan (AL Quote) for $38 billion. Alcoa (AA Quote), which made a hostile bid to acquire Alcan earlier this year, was higher on speculation that it is an acquisition target now.

The Ultra Basic Materials ProShares (UYM Quote) was higher by $3.13, or 3.3%, to $97.31. The Vanguard Materials (VAW Quote) ETF rose $1.67, or 1.9%, to $88.25. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials (IYM Quote) was adding $1.25, or 1.7%, to $73.44.

Retail-related ETFs were also higher on the back of some strong monthly retail same-store sales figures. Among those reporting, Wal-Mart (WMT Quote) easily beat estimates, and rival Target (TGT Quote) didn't disappoint.

The PowerShares Dynamic Retail (PMR Quote) ETF was adding 39 cents, or 2%, to $19.97. The SPDR S&P Retail (XRT Quote) was up 69 cents, or 1.6%, to $43.82. The Retail HOLDRs (RTH Quote) rose $1.01, or 1%, to $106.45.

Among few losers Thursday was the United States Natural Gas (UNG Quote). Natural gas was losing 15 cents to $6.44 per million British thermal units, and the ETF was falling by $1.01, or 2.4%, to $41.34.

The Biotech HOLDRs (BBH Quote) ETF was also trading lower due to a loss of 1.9% in holding Genentech (DNA Quote).

Following Wednesday's closing bell, Genentech posted a 41% rise in second-quarter earnings and exceeded expectations. Still, the stock was losing ground, and the Biotech HOLDRs ETF was down $1.33, or 0.8%, to $167.55.