Silver ETFs Topped All Funds Last Week on Hedge Demand

Silver and silver mining ETFs were last week's top performing exchange-traded funds, surging as investors bought hedges on concerns that interest rates would likely not be cut as much as hoped this year. 

The pace was set by the $193 million iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF (SLVP), which gained 8.3%, which compares to a 12.3% one-week gain for the spot price of silver. The S&P 500, by comparison, fell less than 1% last week, as measured by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).

"Silver is a beneficiary of a perfect storm of sticky inflation, falling supply and a growing demand as it's used
in many everyday appliances and consumer electronics," etf.com research lead Kent Thune said. He also said that silver generally does better than gold in an expanding economy, which is also an inflationary environment.

Another silver mining exchange traded fund, the $1 billion Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) gained 7.6% for the week.

The $1.2 billion abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF (SIVR) gained 7.3%, while the $11.9 billion iShares Silver Trust (SLV), the largest silver ETF, gained 7.1%. SLV is up nearly 15% from the start of the year and recently hit a 52-week high.

Meanwhile, the $434 billion Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VOO) dominated the weekly net inflows, taking in more than $2.45 billion. SPY had the most outflows, with $2.59 billion flowing out. 

The next biggest draw for the week was the $115 billion iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA), which took in $775 million.