Wall Street delivered a decent performance last month with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones adding 1.5% each and the Nasdaq Composite gaining about 3.1%. The Russell 2000 Index has advanced about 2.3% past month.
A few updates led to this result. Optimism about corporate earnings and upbeat economic data points and the passage of the infrastructure bill helped key U.S. equity indexes go higher. News of zero new cases in China and U.S. FDA’s full approval of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine also led to the strength in the market.
However, taper talks were ripe in the month, which unsteadied the market momentum initially. But things ended the month on a better note with no new flare-up in taper talks and the moderate strength in the greenback.
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few ETFs that won last month.
Blockchain
Bitcoin rallied near $49,000 on the back of rising mainstream acceptance. Investors probably chose to invest in bitcoin-related products through much stable investing options like blockchain or digital transformation ETFs. As a result, the following ETFs shot up last month.
The Solactive Blockchain Index provides exposure to companies that are positioned to benefit from further advances in the field of blockchain technology.
Global X Blockchain ETF BKCH – Up 22%
Vaneck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP) – Up 20.6%
Shipping
Gradual global reopening continues to help this fund. A commodity boom is driving the prices as demand for shipping is high. Ultra-easy monetary and fiscal policies as well as supply chain issues and higher demand from e-commerce companies are also boosting the shipping ETF BDRY. The underlying Capesize 5TC Index, Panamax 4TC Index & Supramax 6TC Index measure rates for shipping dry bulk freight. (read: This Multibagger ETF Still Looks Like a Buy: Here's Why).
Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF BDRY – Up 21.8%
Argentina
Most Latin American currencies rallied recently as U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell apparently reassured markets for some more days of super-easy monetary policy.
Global X MSCI Argentina ETF ARGT – Up 16.4%
Argentina iShares MSCI ETF (AGT) – Up 16.1%
Semiconductors
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant work-learn-shop-from-home culture boosted the need for the already in-vogue digitization, accelerating the demand for various products and devices dependent on chips for their functioning.
Demand for PCs, smart phones, gaming hardware and consoles increased. Then there is demand rooting from the electric vehicle and telecom industry. All these products rely on chips, which boosted the demand for semiconductors (read: Semiconductor ETFs A Great Bet Now: Here's Why).
S&P Semiconductor SPDR XSD – Up 13.9%
eSports
Delta variant continues to be a major concern as the number of cases is rising in the world’s largest economy. Hence, the stay-at-home trend and greater focus on online activities like eSports will be in focus.
Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF BETZ – Up 12.9%
Biotech
The biotech space has gained attention on positive COVID-19 vaccine update. The FDA has granted the first full U.S. approval to Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) /BioNTech’s (BNTX) coronavirus vaccine. There were more positive news in the space. Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) has agreed to acquire U.S. biotech company Translate Bio (NASDAQ:TBIO) in a $3.2 billion deal, as it wants to strengthen its position in the next-generation mRNA vaccine technology. Pfizer agreed to buy Canadian drug developer Trillium Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TRIL) for a $2.26 billion deal to strengthen its arsenal of blood cancer therapies.
Etfmg Treatments Testing and Advancements ETF GERM – Up 11.95%
Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything
Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) did to Blockbuster and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities.
Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly.
See 3 crypto-related stocks now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT): ETF Research Reports
SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD): ETF Research Reports
Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF (BDRY): ETF Research Reports
Global X Blockchain ETF (BKCH): ETF Research Reports
Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF (BETZ): ETF Research Reports
ETFMG Treatments, Testing and Advancements ETF (GERM): ETF Research Reports
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