Thursday's ETF Winners & Losers

Updated from 2:26 p.m. EDT with new stock prices

Exchange-traded funds tracking commodity prices were among the best performers Thursday, as crude, gold and silver futures were on the rise.

The December front-month crude contract surged to $90.46 a barrel, gold futures were up to $767.30 an ounce and silver was at $13.84 an ounce.

The iShares Silver Trust (SLV Quote) was gaining $3.21, or 2.38%, to $137.97. The PowerShares DB Oil (DBO Quote) was higher by $1.04, or 3.32%, to $32.39. The iShares Comex Gold Trust (IAU Quote) tacked on 47 cents, or 0.62%, to $76.16.

Bundled securities tracking financials also were rebounding a day after Merrill Lynch's (MER Quote) greater-than-expected $7.9 billion writedown. While Merrill still traded lower Thursday, shares of Fannie Mae (FNM Quote), CME Group (CME Quote) and Charles Schwab (SCHW Quote) were all slightly higher.

The Ultra Financials ProShares (UYG Quote) jumped $2.35, or 4.70%, to $52.35.

The Internet Infrastructure HOLDRs (IIH Quote) was also among the winners of the day thanks to a 12.62% jump in shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM Quote). After Wednesday's close, Akamai said that third-quarter earnings soared 73% from a year ago.

Recently, the Internet Infrastructure HOLDRs was rising by 14 cents, or 2.50%, to $5.73.

On the other hand, chip-related ETFs were suffering again, saddled by a 3.78% decline in Applied Materials (AMAT Quote). Earlier, RBC Capital Markets downgraded the chipmaker to sector perform from outperform, citing slowing demand.

Additionally, Altera (ALTR Quote) and Broadcom (BRCM Quote) continued to slide in the wake of their earnings reports released after Tuesday's close.

The Ultra Semiconductor ProShares (USD Quote) was losing $3.50, or 4.26%, to $78.61. The PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors (PSI Quote) shed 67 cents, or 3.65%, to $17.68. The iShares S&P GTSI Semiconductor (IGW Quote) sank by $2.15, or 3.30%, to $63.01.