Daily ETF Roundup: XLY Jumps On Amazon Earnings, UNG Soars On Weather

Friday’s trading session saw stock uphold their bullish momentum despite a rather substantial miss in GDP. U.S. GDP for the first quarter of the year came in at 2.2, down from the anticipated 2.5. While this news would typically hammer markets, positive earnings kept the bull run alive and overshadowed this miss. The Dow closed the day with a 23 point gain while the S&P 500 jumped by a meager 0.2%; still a strong day with all things considered. Despite some volatility early in the week, stocks were finally able to post a winning week, but with earnings winding down, the next few weeks will be especially crucial [see also ETF Filings Frenzy Roundup].

Major commodities were relatively quiet on the day, as gold gained 3 points and crude tacked on about 0.3 points. For those who monitor Ag futures, corn had a very strong day, as its prices jumped by nearly 4.7% while commodity losers were lead by rough rice (-2.8%). Typically, we outline two of the most notable ETF performances on the day, with one loser and one winner. But today presented special circumstances, so this roundup will be a bit different. Below, we outline two of the biggest ETF winners on the day, as a number of funds were able to finish the session in the black [see also Forget Gold, Why Your Portfolio Needs Silver].

One of the biggest winners came from the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) which rose by 1.2%. This fund measures the consumer discretionary sector of the U.S. and as such, as a big stake in Amazon (AMZN). Yesterday’s report from Amazon beat Street estimates, boosting confidence in consumer spending; it also boosted the stock by more than 15% for the day. It is important to note that its results showed a 35% decline from the previous earnings, but the firm had wanred the Street to expect “a big decline in its operating profit for the quarter as it plowed money into businesses that it expects will pay off in the future, like its Kindle Fire device and new centers for shipping goods” writes Nick Wingfield.

The other major ETF winner came from the United States Natural Gas Fund LP (UNG), which jumped but 3.1% for the day. Natural gas has been welcoming some much-needed momentum in recent days as the battered commodity seems to have finally found its footing. Today’s gains spawned from a weather forecast that shows a cooler-than normal Spring; this after a warmer-than average winter that dug NG’s hole in the first place. “Natural gas rose 6 cents to finish at $2.186 per 1,000 cubic feet in Friday trading. That’s up nearly 15 percent from April 19 when the price hit the lowest level in more than a decade at $1.907 per 1,000 cubic feet” writes Sandy Shore [see also 25 Ways To Invest In Natural Gas].

Follow me on Twitter @JaredCummans

Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.

View the original article here

Daily ETF Roundup: VXX Recovers As Market Tank, XLF Leads Losses

It seems that yesterday’s rumors of strong China GDP growth were merely that, rumors. GDP sank to 8.1%, the weakest in three years, causing stocks to erase Thursday’s bull run as volatility spiked yet again, marking one of the more active weeks in recent memory. The Dow lost over 130 points while the S&P surrendered nearly 1.3%, all of this coming even after Google, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo surpassed earnings expectations. While many investors had hoped for earnings season to be the main focus of the next few weeks, global issues concerning the euro debt crisis and now China’s lagging growth is creating a major cause for concern [see also Doomsday Special: 7 Hard Asset Investments You Can Hold in Your Hand].

Gold was one of the hardest hit assets on the day, as it sank 25 points, creating a major opportunity for gold bugs around the world. Crude oil also suffered during the week-ending session, as a barrel of crude saw its price dip by 77 cents. Crude has been stuck in a range-bound rut for several weeks now, leading to a fair amount of speculation as to where the commodity will be headed next. With yet another unstable week to put in the books, Q2 is shaping up to fall well short of its predecessor and may crush investor optimism to boot. For now, we outline two of the most significant ETF movers on the day to keep traders up to date with all of the happenings around the financial world [see also Does GLD Really Hold Gold, Or is it a Scam?].

One of the biggest ETF winners came from none other than the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX), which sank by more than 8% yesterday. Today, however, this ETN was able to jump by about 5.4% as markets gave in to major selling pressures. Roughly 6% of the S&P 500 has reported earnings thus far, with over 75% of them being positive, but that has not been enough to overcome fears of European yields and a slowing global economy. VXX will continue to prey on markets for as long as instability lasts so keep an eye on this fund in the coming weeks as it can be a vital trading instrument.

 

One of the biggest ETF losers came from the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF), which sank by 2.3% on the day. XLF’s losses come as a frustrating result as JPM and WFC, both of whom beat the Street with their earnings, are among the top ten holdings of the fund. Still, the massive sell-off in this ETF was likely due to euro fears, as banks and the financial sector as a whole are easily spooked by news concerning debt issues. XLF traded 92 million shares on the day and has a year-to-date performance of approximately 17% [see also 4 Sector ETFs Up Over 20% YTD].

 

Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.

View the original article here