Spotify Soars, UPS Tumbles Amid Mixed Market

Broad equity ETFs were mixed at the close after fluctuating much of the day as traders digested earnings and awaited quarterly reports after the bell from major tech companies. 

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) was little changed, losing less than 0.1% while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) closed much the same, one day after posting its best session in more than a month. The Nasdaq-tracking Fidelity NASDAQ Composite Index ETF (ONEQ) added less than 0.1%. 

The iShares U.S. Transportation ETF (IYT) fell 2%, largely due to its 9.3% holding in United Parcel Service Inc. UPS reported second quarter profit and revenue below expectations and cut its revenue guidance for the year. The company’s stock has plummeted more than 12%, which CNBC said was its worst performance on record. 

In contrast, Spotify Technologies shares surged 12% following better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. ETFs holding Spotify rose: the Clockwise Capital Innovation ETF (TIME) gained 0.9% and ProShares On-Demand ETF (OND) added 1.3%. 

Pentair, the water treatment company, moved more than 9% higher, putting the stock on pace for a record close after beating expectations for the second quarter. The Invesco Global Water ETF (PIO), which holds 7.8% of Pentair, gained 0.2%.

Equity markets shrugged off the noise of an unpredictable election cycle and other macroeconomic uncertainties for mid-day gains by SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ). 

SPY and QQQ both rose about 30 basis points from their openings.

The relative calm in financial markets is against the backdrop of the morning debut of the first spot Ethereum ETFs, the resignation this morning of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and Vice President Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.

As etf.com has been reporting, markets, which are known for disliking uncertainty, are somehow finding enough positive news to keep volatility low during this stretch of big changes.

Among the new spot Ethereum ETFs that began trading Tuesday morning, the mid-day trading activity drove them into negative territory, including a 1% drop by the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) and a drop of more than 2% for the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF (QETH).

Trading volumes for the nine new funds were on track to reach about $1 billion in trading volume for their first day, a promising start, wrote Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas in X posts. 

Spot Ethereum ETFs dropped on their first day of trading as issuers and crypto fans bet the nine funds approved yesterday will replicate the success of spot bitcoin ETFs that have become a $55 billion corner of the exchange-traded fund universe.

The SEC approved the funds last night, just over seven months since the regulator gave the nod to spot bitcoin ETFs. Those funds have pulled in $17 billion in investor cash and the largest, the Blackrock Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), jumping 39% since it began trading in January. 

For example, the VanEck Ethereum ETF (ETHV) dipped 1.7% and the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) fell 1.2%. Ethereum itself dipped 1.2% according to CoinMarketCap.com. 

About $112 million in the new ETFs have traded so far today, Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas tweeted. Bloomberg analysts expect the funds to pull in $5 billion to $6 billion in their first year, he also tweeted.