IYG, XLF Fall on Visa Lawsuit; WFH Rises on Smartsheet Deal

The iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF (IYG) and Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) both fell more than 1% after the U.S. Justice Department sued Visa.

The lawsuit alleges the world’s biggest payment network propped up an illegal monopoly over debt payments through exclusionary agreements. Visa shares dropped 5.3% in afternoon trading.

The Direxion Work From Home ETF (WFH) rose 1.2% following news that Smartsheet shares surged more than 6.4%. BlackStone and Vista Equity Partners agreed to buy the software maker for $56.50 a share in cash, valuing the deal at about $8.4 billion.

The REX AI Equity Premium Income ETF (AIPI) inched up 0.2% after CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. executives apologized at a Congressional hearing for a disastrous content update that crashed millions of computers worldwide. Despite the 1.6% drop today, CrowdStrike’s stock has moved up 7% over the past week. 
 

Exchange-traded funds that offer exposure to Chinese companies surged after the government rolled out a series of measures aimed at stoking growth in the world's second-biggest economy.

The three biggest China ETFs all surged in midday trading today. The largest, the $4.34 billion iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) jumped 7.8%; the $4.3 billion KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) leapt 8.8% and the $3.93 billion iShares Trust - China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) gained 8.1%.

FXI's trading volume soared—nearly 60 million shares had traded shortly after noon, more than double the average full-day volume, according to Yahoo Finance data. It was the day's second most-active ETF, according to etf.com data.

The People's Bank of China took a range of measures to boost the country's moribund economy, which has struggled with real estate and a host of other issues. Among the steps taken, the central bank cut lenders' reserve ratio requirements and the so-called seven-day reverse repo rate. The bank also aimed to cut existing mortgage rates by one-half of a percentage point, according to Reuters. 

Other measures were aimed at boosting the country's stock market and lending.

U.S. stocks were mixed after a report showed consumer confidence dipped to a three-month low, casting doubt on whether investors believe the Federal Reserve is engineering a so-called soft landing of the economy.

Gold and silver ETFs jumped while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) fluctuated between a gain and a loss while the Fidelity NASDAQ Composite Index ETF (ONEQ) added 0.5%

Energy ETFs rose Tuesday morning as geopolitical tensions increased in the Middle East and supply concerns caused oil prices to rise. 

Crude oil rose over 2%, sending oil ETFs higher. USO, the United States Oil Fund LP jumped1.6% while BNO, the United States Brent Oil Fund LP rose more than 1.5%.

Natural gas prices fell however as investors eyed the fall out of a potential hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm sent oil prices higher as producers paused production and evacuated workers. BOIL, the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas plummeted 2.6%.

While oil ETFs have been on the rise over the past two weeks, they remain below their April highs.

XLE, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund rose just over half a percentage point, more than a third of the fund's holdings are allocated to Exxon Mobil and Chevron, which both jumped more than .30% Tuesday.

Broad markets took a breather as investors awaited data on the current inflation picture and for information on economic growth.

SPY, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust slid a quarter of a percentage point while QQQ, the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust sank 0.3%. DIA, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust that mirrors the Dow Jones 30, was unchanged.