Fund action - Friday, March 14, 2008
Commodity ETFs Lead In Choppy Month
The 34 energy sector ETFs returned an average 10.83%, according to figures from Citigroup. Barclays Global iShares Silver Trust led the way, posting a 16.95% return—the second-best return of any ETF last month behind the UltraShort Financials ProShares ETF which had returns of 22.64%. The average ETF was down 0.62% for the month. “Most commodity-based ETFs surged in February amid strong global demand for commodities, a weakening U.S. dollar and investor interest,” said the report.
Mid-caps fared the best among size category ETFs, dropping 1.09% for the month. Year-to-date, mid-cap are down 7.18%, which is also the best among size funds.
A separate study, by State Street Global Advisors assets in the ETF market dropped $12.9 billion in February, with the number of ETFs also declining—the 10 new funds were offset by the liquidation of 11 ETFs by Claymore Securities.
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