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. The weekly performance is from last Friday’s open to this week’s Thursday close.
- U.S. markets are in the green for the week.
- Most major foreign markets, including developed and emerging markets, are up for the week. However, markets opened lower today.
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI Index was worse than expected as reported last Friday, with a reading of 52.9 versus the 55.5 consensus.
- As we know from the previous scorecard, only 38,000 new jobs were added to the U.S. economy – way less than the expected 158,000. Fed chairwoman, Janet Yellen, spoke on Monday and voiced concerns over the recent employment report. This is a change in tone from her previous speech, where she hinted that a rate hike is possible in June or July. However, she also mentioned that rates “need to rise gradually over time” to maintain a healthy economy.
- Crude oil inventories continue to fall as the reported number of barrels held in inventory dropped by 3.2 million, as reported on Wednesday by the EIA. This was inline with expectations.
- The ECB president, Mario Draghi, spoke on Thursday at the Brussels Economic Forum 2016. He emphasized that fiscal support and reforms are necessary to maximize the growth effects of monetary policy on the economy. This speech comes a day after the ECB launched its corporate bond buying program.
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Risk Appetite Review
- The overall market, as measured by the S&P 500 ETF (SPY ), was up at an 0.87% increase.
- The high-beta ETF (SPHB ) is up with an increase of 0.81%. This is the worst performer for the week.
- The low volatility ETF (SPLV ) is the best performer of the bunch for this week, with a 1.79% increase.
Major Index Review
- All major indexes are up for the week, except the PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ ), which is down 0.16%.
- The Emerging Markets ETF (EEM ) is the best performer for the week, with a 1.84% increase.
- The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM ) is the best performer for the rolling month, with a 5.38% increase for the month.
- The worst performer for the rolling month is (DIA ) with a gain of 0.65%.
Foreign Equity Review
- All major foreign tracking ETFs are up for the week, except the German ETF (EWG ), which is down by 0.19% – and is also the worst performer for the rolling one month with a gain of 0.19%.
- The Brazilian ETF (EWZ ) is the best performer for the week, with a 5.80% gain.
- All ETFs are in the green for the rolling month, with (FXI ) being the best performer.
Commodities Review
- All commodities are up for the week and rolling month, with the exception being copper (JJC ), which decreased by 3.97% this week. This commodity also happens to be the worst performing one for the rolling one month.
- Gas (UNG ) is the best performer for the week, with a gain of 7.08%.
- Oil (USO ) is the best performer for the rolling month, with a 13.95% gain.
Currency Review
- The U.S. dollar (UUP ) is down slightly for the week, with a loss of 0.29%. Given the uncertainty with regards to a Fed rate hike in the coming months, it’s no surprise we’re not seeing a further U.S. dollar rally. However, if the probability of a rate hike increases, the U.S. dollar will gain strength.
- WisdomTree Emerging Currency Strategy Fund (CEW ) is the best performer for the week, with a gain of 2.18%.
- The British pound (FXB ) was the worst performer for the week, due to further uncertainty regarding whether Britain will stay in the EU.
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Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.
