This Week's ETF Winners & Losers

Homebuilding and construction-related exchange-traded funds were the best performers of the week, as several homebuilders benefited from an analyst upgrade.

On Monday, Citigroup upgraded Centex (CTX Quote), Lennar (LEN Quote), Pulte Homes (PHM Quote), D.R. Horton (DHI Quote) and Ryland Group (RYL Quote) to buy from hold, as the firm believed a near-term bounce was coming due.

Housing stocks also rallied Tuesday despite a weak report from the National Association of Realtors, which said that pending home sales dropped a greater-than-expected 6.5% in August. Economists expected a 2% decline in sales.

For the week, the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction (ITB Quote) jumped 14.2% to $22.70. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB Quote) climbed 9.2% to $23.37.

Financial ETFs were also higher for the week, following several M&A headlines out of the sector. Citigroup (C Quote) said Tuesday it will acquire the rest of Nikko Cordial, a Japan-based broker, for $4.6 billion. On Monday, Citigroup was part of a rally in the financial sector, despite acknowledging that third-quarter earnings should drop 60% from a year ago.

Another deal Tuesday saw Commerce Bancorp (CBH Quote), a New Jersey bank, acquired by Canada's TD Bank (TD Quote) for $8.5 billion in stock and cash. Additionally, Royal Bank of Canada (RY Quote) laid out plans to buy a Caribbean bank, RBTT Financial Group, for roughly $2.2 billion.

The Ultra Financial ProShares (UYG Quote) advanced 9% to $62.55. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Broker-Dealers (IAI Quote) was higher by 5.6% to $54.92. The KBW Bank (KBE Quote) ETF added 3.8% to $54.37.

Overseas-related ETFs were also among the top winners of the week as Asia markets were higher. Over the five sessions, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.5%.

The iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI Quote) advanced 6.4% at $191.60. The SPDR S&P China (GXC Quote) added 5.1% to close at $98.67. The PowerShares Golden Dragon Halter USX China (PGJ Quote) gained 3.8% to $34.59.

The United States Natural Gas (UNG Quote) ETF was one of the week's laggards, although still finished with slight gains. Natural gas prices slid 4.7% on Friday to $7.07 per million British thermal units, but still added 2.9% over the five sessions. The ETF rose 2.3% to $39.12.