The global Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) market looked a little like 2012 today, as it seemed like everyone wanted to jump back into oil and gas. Oil stocks
had a banner day in Canada, as pundits claimed the commodity had found bottom and punters looked to jump back in at a value discount.
As a result, of the top 15 fastest running ETFs Monday, only two weren’t energy-related funds, with upswings ranging from 3%-5.8%.
Even solar got into the green as Guggenheim Solar ETF (
NYSE:TAN,
Stock Forum) jumped 3.1%.
But the top moving ETF was a total contrarian play, with the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (
NYSE: GREK,
Stock Forum) jumping 11.71% on the day.
The shift on Greek futures was led by the likelihood the new Greek government and the European Union will strike a debt deal. British chancellor George Osborne said the current standoff is “the greatest risk to the global economy,” leading some to predict a deal must be done.
Greek finance minister
Yanis Varoufakis told reporters, “There will be a deal done within a very short space of time that is going to make it perfectly clear to everyone that Greece can play within the rules in a way that puts the Greek crisis away, once and for all.”
The Greek fund topped in March of last year at just over $25, and sunk to $10.50 in the ten months since, before going on a tear today, rising to $11.73.
Filling out the rest of the top 5 were SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Explorer and Production ETF (
NYSE:XOP,
Stock Forum) – up 5.8%, the First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas ETF (
NYSE:FCG,
Stock Forum) up 5.6%, the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil TR ETN (
NYSE:OIL,
Stock Forum), 5.5%, and the United States Brent Oil ETF (
NYSE:BNO,
Stock Forum), up 4.8%.
XOP had nearly halved its stock price September, when it touched just short of $80. It was as low as $42.55 on January 15, before shifting up to $48.88 today. Other oil ETFs mentioned have seen similar drops, though not quite the bounce of XOP.
The only other non-energy interloper in the top 15 was the Market Vectors India Small-Cap ETF (
NYSE:SCIF,
Stock Forum), up 4.4% and good for #8 on the rankings.
Biotech, gold and real estate led the decliners, with the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (
NYSE:XBI,
Stock Forum) down 1.5%, SPDR Gold Shares (
NYSE:GLD,
Stock Forum) down 0.8%, and iShares Mortgage Real Estate Capped (
NYSE:REM,
Stock Forum) down 0.6%.
Of the leveraged decliners, top spot went to a bear oil fund, the VelocityShares 3x Inverse Crude Oil ETN (
NYSE:DWTI,
Stock Forum) which, until January, was largely unknown and neglected but has gone on a 400% run in the time since.
DWTI was down 13.9% on the day, with the PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN (
NYSE:TVIX,
Stock Forum) and ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil fund (
NYSE:SCO,
Stock Forum) both down 8.6%.
On the Canadian side, oil also had a field day, with the First Asset Can-Energy Covered Call ETC (
TSX:T.OXF.A,
Stock Forum) up 10.6%, the iShares Oil Sands Index ETF (
TSX:T.CLO.A,
Stock Forum) was 10.4%,and the Horizons VetaPro S&P/TSX Capped Energy Bull Plus ETF (
TSX:T.HEU,
Stock Forum) grew by 9.5%. Three oil bear funds dropped between 8.4% and 10.6% to lead the northern decliners.
For more on ETFs, visit Stockhouse's ETF Page at https://stockhouse.com/markets/etfs
--Chris Parry
https://www.twitter.com/chrisparry