Yahoo Finance Best ETF Areas of Last Week
Wall Street delivered a mixed performance last week with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq adding 0.3% and 2.5% while the Dow Jones and the Russell 2000 losing about 1% and 0.04%, respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged due to the artificial intelligence (AI) frenzy while other areas were under moderate pressure due to debt ceiling negotiation process.
Blockbuster first-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings from Nvidia NVDA have led to strong bullishness across the sector, fueling a rally in the stocks. The technology sector of the S&P 500 experienced a remarkable rise of 4.2% on May 25, marking its largest one-day gain since Nov 30. In fact, the semiconductor space has been on fire with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping 5.9% to hit its highest level in more than a year (read: Tech ETFs Burning Hot on AI-Fueled Nvidia Surge).
Meanwhile, the debate between Democrat and Republican lawmakers continued over increasing the $31 trillion debt limit, reached in January, with divergent approaches to government spending and debt management. The impasse has reignited concerns about the United States' medium-term fiscal challenges, potentially affecting its credit rating.
Amid this tumult, the Federal Reserve faces its own set of challenges. Its recent meetings have revealed a split in opinion on the future direction of interest rates, balancing between the need for increases to counter inflation and a potential slowdown in economic growth. This division reflects the evolving market dynamics and uncertainties, pushing the Fed toward a more data-dependent approach.
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few best ETFs of last week.
ETF Areas in Focus
Semiconductor
Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXQ) – Up 10.9%
Semiconductor iShares ETF SOXX – Up 10.6%
Nvidia topped both earnings and revenue estimates buoyed by the strength of its data center business. It offered a bullish revenue outlook for the current quarter on the excitement surrounding an investment boom in AI technologies.
The optimism around Nvidia shares acted as a cornerstone to the entire semiconductor space. Other chipmaker stocks like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), and Arista Networks (ANET), and AI players like Microsoft (MSFT) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) also soared.
Greece
Global X MSCI Greece ETF GREK – Up 8.3%
Greek stocks and government bonds have rallied on Monday after the recent election results. The incumbent New Democracy party beat poll indications in Sunday’s elections, albeit without ensuring a majority. In fact, GREK was up as much as 7.5% on May 22 on election hopes (read: Greece ETF Up on Election Hopes).
Interest Rate Hedge ETF
Global X Interest Rate Hedge ETF (RATE) – Up 6.5%
Benchmark U.S. treasury yield surged last week to 3.83% due to debt drama. Due to this debacle, some U.S. treasuries bills received the least amount of attention exhibiting discount yields that closely resembled the effective yields of various short-term high-yield bonds, per Bloomberg.
Corn
Teucrium Corn (CORN) – Up 6%
Concurrently, the USDA projected a record-high global corn production for the 2023/2024 marketing year, with North and South America witnessing a surge in output. Specifically, US corn production is expected to reach a record high of 15.3 billion bushels, representing a 10% increase compared to the current marketing year's estimates. Additionally, favorable weather conditions and a more stable economic environment are anticipated to bolster supply in Argentina. Although Brazil's production is forecasted to ease from this year's record levels, expectations for crop yields remain strong.
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NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX): ETF Research Reports
Global X MSCI Greece ETF (GREK): ETF Research Reports
Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXQ): ETF Research Reports
