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

Energy ETFs rise as oil prices rise due to geopolitical tensions, supply concerns

3 Updates 
Tue, September 24, 2024 At 4:19 PM EDT
DJ Shaw | Finance Reporter |

Financial ETFs decline on antitrust concerns; work-from-home ETF gains on acquisition news.

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.

XLF 1 Month Performance

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. 
 

Tue, September 24, 2024 At 12:16 PM EDT
Ron Day | Managing Editor |

KWEB, FXI jump after Bank of China boosts property sector with mortgage rate cut.

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%

Tue, September 24, 2024 At 10:22 AM EDT
Kristin Myers | SVP Content/EIC |

Energy ETFs Pop Tuesday

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.

1M Price Chart for USO

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.