This Week's ETF Winners & Losers
Exchange-traded funds tracking Internet and software stocks were the biggest winners of the week, rising on the back of M&A activity in the software sector.
On Friday,
BEA Systems
(BEAS)
surged 38% after software giant
Oracle
(ORCL) - Get Report
made an unsolicited bid for the company.
The
Internet Infrastructure HOLDRs
(IIH)
jumped 12% over the five sessions to $5.85. The
First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index
(FDN) - Get Report
added 3.9% to $27.94. The
iShares S&P GSTI Software
(IGV) - Get Report
ETF ended up 3.9% at $53.31.
ETFs tracking Asia's markets were also among the top winners of the week thanks to big gains overseas. Over the five sessions, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 4.6%, and Japan's Nikkei climbed 1.6%.
The
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index
(FXI) - Get Report
advanced 5.5% to $202.20. The
SPDR S&P China
(GXC) - Get Report
ETF added 5.2% to close at $103.81. The
PowerShares Golden Dragon Halter USX China
(PGJ) - Get Report
gained 3.4% to $35.78.
On the other hand, homebuilding and construction-related ETFs were among the worst performers of the week as several builders suffered from an analyst downgrade.
Wachovia lowered its 2007 and 2008 earnings estimates for 13 companies in the group, noting escalating cancellation rates and ineffective promotions. Among those cut were
Centex
(CTX)
,
Beazer Homes
(BZH) - Get Report
,
Lennar
(LEN) - Get Report
,
Toll Brothers
(TOL) - Get Report
,
Hovnanian
(HOV) - Get Report
and
D.R. Horton
(DHI) - Get Report
.
For the week, the
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction
(ITB) - Get Report
ETF sank 4.7% to $21.72. The
SPDR S&P Homebuilders
(XHB) - Get Report
ETF shed 2% to $22.90.
Chip stocks were also among the week's worst decliners as traders booked profits on several names that have enjoyed a recent run-up.
Among the losers were
KLA-Tencor
(KLAC) - Get Report
,
Xilinx
(XLNX) - Get Report
and
Altera
(ALTR) - Get Report
, all of which fell 4% or more for the week.
The
Semiconductor HOLDRs
(SMH) - Get Report
eased 5.5% to $36.34. The
Ultra Semiconductor ProShares
(USD) - Get Report
ETF slipped 3.4% to $86.11. The
PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors
(PSI) - Get Report
ETF was down 2.6% to $18.63.