Thursday's ETF Winners & Losers
Exchange-traded funds tracking precious metals were among the best performers of Thursday's session, as gold futures topped $700 an ounce for the first time in four months.
Gold prices surged $13.80 to $704.50 an ounce as buyers looked for a safe haven amid news that Syria had fired surface-to-air missiles at Israeli aircraft. Silver was also on the rise, climbing 26 cents to $12.61 an ounce.
The
Market Vectors Gold Miners
(GDX) - Get Report
ETF was up $2.22, or 5.8%, to $40.70. The
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining
(XME) - Get Report
was adding $1.50, or 2.6%, to $59.38. The
PowerShares DB Silver
(DBS) - Get Report
rose 57 cents, or 2.4%, to $24.52. The
PowerShares DB Precious Metals
(DBP) - Get Report
was higher by 51 cents, or 2%, to $26.73.
The
Biotech HOLDRs
(BBH) - Get Report
was also among winners after holding
Biogen Idec
(BIIB) - Get Report
reaffirmed its full-year outlook. The company also said it expects revenue and earnings growth through 2010. Biogen was jumping more than 6%, and the Biotech HOLDRs ETF was up $2.65, or 1.6%, to $171.51.
On the other hand, housing-related ETFs were among the worst decliners of Thursday's session, after the Mortgage Bankers Association released a report that said 5.1% of the loans in its survey were delinquent in the second quarter and that the number of dwellings entering foreclosure hit a record high. Subprime delinquencies rose to 14.8%, the highest since the second quarter of 2002.
Following the release, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index was off 0.5%.
Beazer Homes
(BZH) - Get Report
,
Hovnanian
(HOV) - Get Report
,
Centex
(CTX)
and
Pulte Homes
(PHM) - Get Report
were all trading lower.
The
SPDR S&P Homebuilders
(XHB) - Get Report
was down 27 cents, or 1.1%, to $24.09. The
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction
(ITB) - Get Report
was losing 23 cents, or 1%, to $22.79.
The
United States Natural Gas
(UNG) - Get Report
was also among the biggest decliners, as natural gas prices slipped 14 cents to $5.67 per million British thermal unit. The ETF was lower by $1.11, or 3.1%, to $35.17.