This Week's ETF Winners & Losers
Exchange-traded funds tracking tech shares were among the biggest winners for the week as several big names delivered solid first-quarter numbers.
The
Internet HOLDRs
(HHH)
ETF gained 4.5% for the week, and the
Internet Architecture HOLDRs
(IAH)
surged 6.7%. The
Semiconductor HOLDRs
(SMH) - Get Report
rose 2.9%, and the
iShares S&P GSTI Semiconductor
(IGW)
climbed 3.9%.
The upward momentum came as search giant
(GOOG) - Get Report
helped spark a massive rally Friday and chipmaker
Intel
(INTC) - Get Report
did the same a couple of days earlier, both thanks to better-than-expected earnings. Google jumped 17.9% for the week as Intel tacked on 6.2%.
IBM
(IBM) - Get Report
, meanwhile, helped the Dow hold its own on Thursday as the computer maker topped expectations with a leaping quarterly profit. For the week, the stock was up 7.2%.
Also gaining ground this week were ETFs tracking financial stocks. The week saw mixed results, but some big names, most notably,
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
and
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
, allayed investors' fears with first-quarter results that weren't thoroughly dismal. Citi missed the average Wall Street estimate but its first-quarter writedowns weren't nearly as bad as some were predicting, and JPMorgan's sliding profit came in above the consensus. Shares added 7.5% and 7.6%, respectively, over the past five sessions.
At the same time, the
Financial Select Sector SPDR
(XLF) - Get Report
,
Ultra Financials ProShares
(UYG) - Get Report
,
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Sector
(IYF) - Get Report
ETF and
iShares S&P Global Financials
(IXG) - Get Report
all advanced between 4.7% and 10.6%.
Also, in a week that saw crude oil hitting record intraday highs every day, the
Oil Services HOLDRs
(OIH) - Get Report
jumped 10.9%, the
Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares
(DIG) - Get Report
rocketed 16.1%, the
United States Oil
(USO) - Get Report
climbed 5.9%, and the
Energy Select Sector SPDR
(XLE) - Get Report
ramped up 8%.
On the flip side, bundled securities tracking gold slipped as gold futures sank for the week.
The
PowerShares DB Gold
(DGL) - Get Report
, the
iShares COMEX Gold Trust
(IAU) - Get Report
and the
streetTRACKS Gold Shares
(GLD) - Get Report
funds were all down 0.7% or more.
Finally, ETFs tracking Treasury securities faltered as investors shifted their money out of the safe haven of government bonds, having regained at least some of their confidence in equities.
The
iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond
(TLT) - Get Report
fund was off 3.3% for the week, the
iShares Lehman 10-20 Year Treasury Bond
(TLH) - Get Report
surrendered 2.4%, and the
iShares Lehman 7-10 Year Treasury
(IEF) - Get Report
was down 1.7%.