URA, Uranium ETFs Surge as Trump Orders Nuclear Reforms
- President Trump's orders speed up the nuclear reactor approval process, cut environmental restrictions.
- URA, NUKZ & URNM jumped, with uranium-focused funds leading pack.
- Uranium & nuclear ETFs have largely declined over past year.
Nuclear energy and uranium ETFs leaped Friday, charged by expectations that President Donald Trump is poised to remove barriers to the industry’s expansion.
The biggest U.S. uranium exchange-traded fund, the $2.9 billion Global X Uranium ETF (URA) soared more than 12% Friday afternoon, adding to the past month’s 26% gain. The No. 2 fund, the $1.4 billion Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM) also gained more than 12%. The top holding in both funds is Canadian miner Cameco Corp. (CCJ), which rose 14%.
URA, URNM and Others Show Mixed Performance
Trump signed an executive order today making approvals for new reactors easier, opening federal lands to nuclear power plant construction and providing for more robust uranium supply lines. Artificial intelligence computing has created massive new demands for electricity, and Trump in his first day in office declared an energy emergency.
“Trump's embrace of nuclear energy is a tide that lifts the entire nuclear industry, adding a premium to nuclear stocks and increasing demand for uranium,” said etf.com Research Lead Kent Thune, CFP.
The performance of Uranium and nuclear ETFs has been mixed over the past year, with uranium miners hit particularly hard. URNM has dropped 35%, while the $229.4 million Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF (URNJ) has lost 45%.
That’s, in part, due to a 49% drop in uranium prices since January 2024, according to data on Cameco’s website. The world’s top producer is Kazakhstan, a close ally of Russia, which has been hit by global sanctions over the war with Ukraine. Canada is the world’s No. 2 supplier and has been threatened with sanctions by the Trump administration.
Other nuclear and uranium ETFs jumping today include the VanEck Uranium+Nuclear Energy ETF (NLR), which moved 11% higher, and the Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ), which added 7%. NUKZ is the outlier with its 39% gain over the past year.
Nuclear & Uranium ETF Flows—Source: etf.com
Only eight ETFs are listed on etf.com as nuclear/uranium-focused funds.
