Yahoo Finance Top-Performing ETFs of Last Week
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones lost 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 added 0.6% and 1.4% last week. The last week was quite a news-packed week. Among the notable ones, higher-than-expected inflation and retail sales data were especially noteworthy, which in turn, boosted the bets over a more hawkish Fed.
The annual inflation rate in the United States decelerated slightly to 6.4% in January from 6.5% in December. The inflation figure came in higher than the market forecast of 6.2%. Still, it marked the lowest reading since October 2021 (read: 4 Sector ETFs to Win from January Inflation Data).
Compared to the previous month, the CPI rose 0.5%, the most in three months and following a 0.1% increase in December. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected an increase of 0.4%, as quoted on CNBC (read: Rising Rates ETFs to Tap on Upbeat Economic Data).
If this was not enough, retail sales in the United States increased 3% sequentially in January of 2023, the biggest increase since March 2021 and way above market forecasts of a 1.8% rise. The reading showed that American consumers continued to spend due to an upbeat labor market. January gains came after a 1.1% drop in December.
Treasury yields rose following higher-than-expected inflation and retail sales data as these triggered the speculation that the Fed may act pretty hawkish in the coming days. In any case, the jobs data, too, was upbeat, giving the Fed a leeway to act freely on the monetary policy tightening issue.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. treasury yield was 3.72% at the start of the last week. But the yield shot up to 3.86% on Feb 16, 2022 after the release of those two aforementioned economic data points. However, the yield finally dropped to 3.82% to close out the week.
Meanwhile, U.S. homebuilder confidence has risen for the second consecutive month to the highest level since September 2022. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo gauge of builder sentiment increased to 42 in February, the largest monthly gain in 10 years (read: Homebuilder Confidence Rises Most in a Decade: ETFs to Tap).
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning ETFs of last week.
ETFs in Focus
Digital Transformation
Vaneck Digital Assets Mining ETF DAM – Up 18.8%
Vaneck Digital Transformation ETF DAPP – Up 17.7%
Bitcoin, the largest digital currency by market value, topped $25,000 for the first time since mid-2022. It jumped 8.2% on Feb 16, marking the biggest one-day gain in about a month. The solid rally was the result of the type of short squeeze that historically sent Bitcoin prices higher. Per the data from crypto data provider, Coinglass, investors liquidated some $60 million of bitcoin short positions over the past 24 hours (read: Bitcoin Regains $25,000 Level: ETFs to Ride the Rally).
Turkey
Turkey iShares MSCI ETF TUR – Up 16.1%
Turkish stocks jumped in the middle of last week after a major earthquake that sent markets into a tailspin. Billions of Turkish liras have been poured into the market and government measures have been taken to support stocks, including a cut in the withholding tax on share buyback programs to zero from 15% and an increase in the required shares in the government pension scheme to 30% from 10%, as quoted on tradingeconomics.
Technology
Ark Next Generation Internet ETF ARKW – Up 8.6%
The fund offers exposure to next-gen Internet. Since next-gen Internet, digital economy and electric vehicle investing have been faring better since the start of this year, ARKW had every reason to outperform last week. Plus, the valuation of technology has reached an attractive level after last year’s bloodbath.
Cocoa
iPath Cocoa Subindex Index ETN NIB – Up 6.8%
Cocoa futures traded around $2,700 per tonne, closing in on their highest level since February 2022, due to tight global supplies. Cocoa exporters in Ivory Coast, the world's top producer, are on the verge of defaulting on their agreements due to a lack of cocoa beans. On the demand side, a cocoa exporter group Gepex reported processing 58,554 tons of cocoa increased 13% year over year in December, indicating higher demand, per tradingeconomics.
Coffee
iPatha.B Coffee Subindex TR ETN JO – Up 6.5%
Arabica coffee futures in the United States were trading around $1.78 per pound, rising to a near four-month high on concerns over supply shrinkage. Inclement weather in Brazil’s major growing region has weighed on coffee prices, per tradingeconomics.
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iPath Series B Bloomberg Coffee Subindex Total Return ETN (JO): ETF Research Reports
ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW): ETF Research Reports
iShares MSCI Turkey ETF (TUR): ETF Research Reports
iPath Bloomberg Cocoa Subindex Total Return ETN (NIB): ETF Research Reports
VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP): ETF Research Reports
VanEck Digital Assets Mining ETF (DAM): ETF Research Reports
