Wednesday's ETF Winners & Losers

Housing- and real estate-related exchange-traded funds were surging during Wednesday's winning session, one day after the Federal Reserve said that the correction in housing is ongoing but that the economy is likely to expand at a moderate pace.

Individual names were jumping. Hovnanian (HOV) soared 19%, and Toll Brothers (TOL), D.R. Horton (DHI), Centex (CTX) and KB Home (KBH) were all higher by 5% or more.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction (ITB) was rising $2.07, or 7.8%, to $28.63. The Ultra Real Estate ProShares (URE) climbed $2.42, or 5.7%, to $45.22. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB) was adding $1.54, or 5.9%, to $27.87.

Bundled securities tracking Asian markets were also jumping after several indices gained ground overnight. Hong Kong's Hang Sang rose 2.9%, the Nikkei Index added 0.6% and Tokyo's Topix Index gained 0.5%.

The iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI) was gaining $5.87, or 4.5%, to $136.14. The iShares MSCI Singapore Index (EWS) was higher by 59 cents, or 4.6%, to $13.50. The SPDR S&P China (GXC) was recently up $3.08, or 4.5%, at $71.56.

ETFs tracking regional banks were notching another strong session. Among individual names, Washington Mutual (WM), Valley National Bancorp (VLY), Colonial Bancgroup (CNB) and PNC Financial Services (PNC) were all gaining 3% or more.

The KBW Regional Banking (KRE) ETF was higher by $1.75, or 4.1%, to $44.50. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Regional Banks (IAT) added $1.04, or 2.3%, to $47.25.

On the other hand, bundled securities following U.S. Treasuries were among the few losers of the day, as traders made their way out of bonds and back into equities.

The 10-year note was down 18/32 in price, yielding 4.84%, and the 30-year bond was tumbling 1 1/32, yielding 5.00%.

The iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) was down 91 cents, or 1%, to $86.31. The iShares Lehman 7-10 Year Treasury Bond (IEF) fell by 50 cents, or 0.6%, to $81.80. The SPDR Lehman Long Term Treasury (TLO) was lower 27 cents, or 0.5%, to $50.48.