Financial ETFs Lose on Weak Jobs Data
NEW YORK (
) -- Financial ETFs were prominent losers on Thursday after initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose to 479,000.
Stocks across sectors came under pressure on the weak job outlook. However, banking stocks suffered more as investors worry that continued weakness in the economy will translate into continued depression in loan demand. Buying in the second half trimmed losses, but most financial ETFs still finished in the red.
Regional banking ETFs took a knock, with the
iShares Dow Jones US Regional Banks
(IAT) - Get Report
shedding 0.6% to $23.07. Its top holdings include
U.S. Bancorp
(USB) - Get Report
down 1.1%, and
PNC Financial Services
(PNC) - Get Report
, down 0.3%. The
SPDR KBW Regional Banking ETF
(KRE) - Get Report
, which has a higher exposure to mid-cap regional bank stocks, was down 0.9%.
Weak job numbers was also bad news for consumer stocks. The
SPDR S&P International Consumer Staples
(IPS)
is shedding 1.5%. Lackluster same-store sales drove the
SPDR Retail ETF
(XRT) - Get Report
lower by 0.7% in morning trading, but the ETF recovered some of its losses in the latter half, ending lower by 0.2%.
Oil ETFs trended lower. The
United States Oil Fund
(USO) - Get Report
, which tracks oil futures, is down 0.5% at $36.71. But it was rising slightly in aftermarket trading.
The usually volatile
US Natural Gas ETF
(UNG) - Get Report
was a prominent loser in Thursday trading, shedding 2.4% .
-- Reported by Shanthi Venkataraman in New York.
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