This Week's ETF Winners & Losers

Funds tracking oil stocks were among the biggest losers.

Author:: Sarina Penn
Publish date:: Apr 25, 2008 4:58 PM EDT

Exchange-traded funds tracking oil were some of the worst performers this week as a surging U.S. dollar sharply pulled down oil prices following a days-long tear into record territory.

Oil started the week off with a bang after news broke that Nigerian militants had attacked two oil pipelines, but the crude rally cooled after the greenback staged a big recovery Thursday. Futures took back a great deal of those losses Friday as fresh supply worries cropped up, but oil-related stocks ended up beaten down for the week.

Oil Services HOLDRs

(OIH) - Get Report

slid 3% for the week, the

PowerShares Dynamic Oil & Gas Services

(PXJ) - Get Report

fund was down 1.7%, and the

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Energy

(IYE) - Get Report

declined 0.8%.

Bundled securities tracking gold-related shares also fell over the past five sessions as the metal followed oil downward Thursday amid a stronger dollar.

Since Monday, the

Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF

(GDX) - Get Report

has tumbled 9%, the

iShares COMEX Gold Trust

(IAU) - Get Report

has dropped 4%, and

streetTRACKS Gold Shares

(GLD) - Get Report

has given up 3.7%.

On the flip side, ETFs tracking the financial sector clambered upward as investors continued to find clues that the group has weathered the credit storm and is poised for recovery.

Merrill Lynch

(MER)

, for instance, maintained its dividend, indicating that it now has a healthy cash pile and can thus afford to do so. The stock added 4.8% for the week.

The week also saw

National City

(NCC)

slashing its dividend, posting a quarterly loss, and launching a heavily discounted equity sale in an effort to raise capital, and

Ambac

(ABK)

swung to a big shortfall as well. Nat City plummeted 24.1% over the past five sessions, and Ambac tanked 35.5%. Still, the sector was generally in better shape at the end of the week.

The

Financial Select Sector SPDR

(XLF) - Get Report

and the

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Sector

(IYF) - Get Report

ETF each tacked on 1.9% for the week, and the

Ultra Financials ProShares

(UYG) - Get Report

climbed 3.6%.