News
To help investors keep up with the markets, we present our ETF Scorecard. The Scorecard takes a step back and looks at how various asset classes across the globe are performing. Weekly performance is measured from last Friday’s open to this week Thursday’s close.
- The U.S. markets were mixed over the past week but red on Friday.
- Most major foreign markets, including developed and emerging markets, were up for the week.
- After almost a decade, the U.S Federal Reserve announced a rise in U.S. interest rates on Wednesday. The Fed increased rates by 25 basis points, with gradual adjustments.
- One of the main economic indicators, the PMI Services Flash, had a disappointing figure of 53.7 versus the consensus of 56.1 on Friday’s release.
- Last week, U.S. junk bonds posted their largest decline since 2011 and increased volatility in the markets.
- Oil continues on a downward trend as the International Energy Agency (IEA) Oil Market Report indicates that world demand growth for Q4 2015 will slow down to 1.3 million barrels per day year over year.
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Risk Appetite Review
- The overall market as measured by the S&P 500 ETF (SPY ) was slightly up at Thursday’s close, with a 0.74% weekly increase. However, the ETF was down on Friday.
- The low-volatility ETF (SPLV ) was the best performer of the group, with a 1.32% gain for the week.
- The high-beta ETF (SPHB ) was the worst performer out of the bunch, with a 1.63% loss for the week.
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Major Index Review
- All major indexes were up this week except the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM ).
- The emerging-markets ETF (EEM ) is the best performer for the week but not the rolling month, with a 3.05% gain and 2.62% loss, respectively.
- The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM ) is the worst performer for the week, with a -0.05% loss.
Foreign Equity Review
- Most of the foreign tracking ETFs are up for the week except the iShares MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ ), which is down 2.88%, and the iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF (EWU ), which is down -0.37%.
- The best-performing ETF in this group is the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (EPI ), which is up 4.46% for the week.
Commodities Review
- All commodities are down for the week and rolling month.
- Natural gas (UNG ) is the worst performer for the week, with a loss of 10.59%.
- Oil (USO ) continued its losing streak for the rolling month, with a loss of 17.38%.
- The agriculture ETF (DBA ) decreased the least for the rolling month, with a loss of 1.22%.
Currency Review
- The U.S. dollar (UUP ) is up this week, with a gain of 1.62%.
- The worst performer for the week and the rolling month is the British pound (FXB ), which is down 2.06% and 1.95%, respectively.
- The euro (FXE ) is the second-worst performer for the week, with a loss of 1.56%, but the best performer for the rolling month, with a gain of 0.82%.
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Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.
