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Daily ETF Roundup: EWZ Jumps, IYR Sinks

by Michael Johnston on November 17, 2009 | ETFs Mentioned: EEM • EWZ • IYR • MOO

The fundamentals-defying market rally took a brief pause on Tuesday, with most major benchmarks finishing slightly up as investors kept an eye on China’s stubborn stance towards the yuan and digested strong results from several retailers. The ETFdb 60 Index, a benchmark measuring the performance of investable assets available through exchange-traded products, lost 0.28 points to finish at 1,027.24.

ETFdb 60 Index The iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (EWZ) was one of the day’s biggest winners, gaining 1.3% following comments from the Ministry of Finance indicating a bright outlook for GDP growth over the coming decade. Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Brazil’s GDP should grow steadily between 6.0% and 6.5% between 2010 and 2016, with investment increasing as much as 15% next year. Brazil ETFs have been volatile in recent weeks, but have delivered big gains so far in 2009. EWZ is up more than 120% year-to-date, compared to about 70% for the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (EEM)

Also posting a big gain on Tuesday was the cleverly-named Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (MOO) which gained 1.3% for the session.

EWZ

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index Fund (IYR) lost about 1.4% on Tuesday, as uncertainties surrounding the fate of the commercial real estate market continued to swirl. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech this week that demand for commercial property has declined, causing a “sharp deterioration in the credit quality of commercial real estate loans on the banks’ books and on loans that back commercial mortgage-backed securities.”

IYR