Gold miner ETFs were among the best-performing ETFs in the week ended Thursday, July 26, as the Dow notched a decline of 0.42 percent amid more eurozone uncertainty.
Gold miner ETFs were among the best-performing funds in the week ended Thursday, July 26, as gold prices benefited from the latest news from the eurozone that suggested policymakers might be prepared to engage in full-scale bond buying to prop up some of Europe’s weaker economies.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDXJ) tagged on gains of 3.67 percent in the past five days amid an average daily trading volume of more than 2.3 million shares. The fund now boasts more than $2.12 billion in assets.
The iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Index Fund (NYSEArca: RING) was another top gainer, raking in 3.2 percent in gains.
On Thursday, the European central bank president said the ECB would do whatever it took to preserve the euro—a move that eased some of the market’s concerns about the ongoing eurozone debt crisis. But it also pushed gold futures to a multiweek high, while putting downward pressure on the dollar.
Even though gold miner ETFs are equity funds, and are more correlated to the broad stock market than to price action in the yellow metal itself, strength in gold values helped support the funds. The Dow Jones industrial average trended lower in the five-day period ended Thursday, July 26, giving back 55 points in the week, or 0.42 percent. But it rallied 1.67 percent on Thursday, the last day of IndexUniverse's weekly tally.
Several volatility strategies also ranked high in the week—a reflection of the prevailing uncertainty that’s tainting market sentiment. The bulk of the trading action took place in the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSEArca: VXX), which rallied 6.37 percent, with more than 48 million shares trading, on average, on a daily basis.
Commodities Slip
On the flip side, commodities funds were in the line of fire this past week, as concerns about the health of the global economy—as well as some improved weather conditions in key growing areas around the world—helped pressure many markets lower.
Coffee futures, for instance, hit a three-week low at one point during the week while the grains markets were hit by selling interest.
The $5.4 million Teucrium Agricultural Fund (NYSEArca: TAGS) bled 9.5 percent in the Thursday-to-Thursday period, while a pair of iPath Coffee ETNs each gave up around 8 percent in the week.
TAGS is a fund-of-funds ETF that combines equal weights of four separate Teucrium single-commodity ETFs focused on corn, soybeans, wheat and sugar.
Top 9 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| CVOL | C-Tracks Exchange-Traded Notes on the Citi Volatility | 8.37% | 140,137 | 6.02 |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term | 6.79% | 5,659,539 | 133.00 |
| VIIX | VelocityShares VIX Short Term ETN | 6.71% | 2,374,504 | 32.73 |
| VXX | iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | 6.37% | 241,753,497 | 1,640.13 |
| DCNG | iPath Pure Beta Seasonal Natural Gas ETN | 4.04% | 1,600 | 2.37 |
| GDXJ | Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners | 3.67% | 11,651,823 | 2,124.89 |
| CHOC | iPath Pure Beta Cocoa ETN | 3.54% | 1,200 | 3.17 |
| ZROZ | PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury | 3.32% | 89,722 | 183.48 |
| RING | iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners | 3.19% | 20,751 | 29.34 |
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| TAGS | Teucrium Agricultural | -9.50% | 8,360 | 5.41 |
| JO | iPath Dow Jones-UBS Coffee Total Return ETN | -8.59% | 89,495 | 27.07 |
| GRN | iPath Global Carbon ETN | -8.28% | 2,758 | 1.19 |
| GREK | Global X FTSE Greece 20 | -8.01% | 92,555 | 6.88 |
| CAFE | iPath Pure Beta Coffee ETN | -7.68% | 93,728 | 1.61 |
| JJT | iPath Dow Jones-UBS Tin Total Return ETN | -7.64% | 20,174 | 8.90 |
| SLX | Market Vectors Steel | -7.23% | 256,310 | 108.60 |
| IDXJ | Market Vectors Indonesia Small Cap | -6.94% | 21,760 | 4.15 |
| SCIF | Market Vectors India Small-Cap | -6.66% | 166,099 | 39.34 |
| PSTL | PowerShares Global Steel Portfolio | -6.66% | 1,271 | 2.48 |
Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.
