Monday's ETF Winners & Losers

The PowerShares Lux Nanotech (PXN Quote) exchange-traded fund was the top performer of Monday's winning session, thanks to large gains in several of its holdings.

Among them, Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI Quote), Nanophase Technologies (NANX Quote) and Elan (ELN Quote) were all up more than 3%.

The PowerShares Lux Nanotech ETF was recently higher by 83 cents, or 4.8%, to $18.16.

An earnings beat by Merck (MRK Quote) boosted several pharmaceutical ETFs. The Pharmaceutical HOLDRs (PPH Quote) was gaining $1.78, or 2.2%, to $82.55. The SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals (XPH Quote) rose 57 cents, or 1.6%, to $35.88. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Pharmaceuticals (IHE Quote) was up 86 cents, or 1.5%, to $56.62.

Bundled securities tracking Chinese markets were also among the winners to start the week. Overnight, China's CSI 300 Index jumped nearly 5%. The iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI Quote) ETF climbed $4.37, or 3.2%, to $142.61. The SPDR S&P China (GXC Quote) was adding $2.36, or 3.2%, to $75.15. The SPDR S&P Emerging Asia Pacific (GMF Quote) was tacking on $2.09, or 2.7%, to $80.08.

On the flip side, the United States Natural Gas (UNG Quote) ETF was the biggest loser, as natural gas futures fell by 35 cents to $6.09 per million British thermal units. The ETF was falling by $2.09, or 5.1%, to $39.01.

Oil-related ETFs were also losing ground, as the new front-month September crude contract shed 89 cent to $74.90 a barrel. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration Index (IEO Quote) was down 96 cents, or 1.6%, to $59.42. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (XOP Quote) was lower by 71 cents, or 1.5%, to $47.09. The United States Oil (USO Quote) ETF was off 76 cents, or 1.3%, to $56.24.