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Wall Street was mixed last week with the S&P 500 adding about 1%, the Dow Jones retreating 0.1% and the Nasdaq advancing more than 1.7%. Among the key developments, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high on the artificial intelligence boom and the Fed rate cut bets.
Meanwhile, manufacturing data came in at weak but the trend showed signs of improvement. The ISM Manufacturing PMI in the United States dropped to 47.8 in February 2024 from 49.1 in the previous month, way below market expectations of 49.5 and marked the 16th successive period of declines in manufacturing activity. The data quelled previous hopes of fresh momentum in the sector.
Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester said on Thursday that the latest reading on inflation (i.e., a month-over-month jump in the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge) doesn’t change her calculation for three rate cuts later in 2024. She is still predicting three cuts in 2024, an estimate she first made in December.
Bitcoin prices was on a tallying mode last week. Bitcoin jumped as much as 13% to $63,968 in the Feb 28 trading session — its first trip above $60,000 since November 2021. After that, the currency went on trending higher. The rally has set Bitcoin up for its biggest monthly gain since December 2020 (read: Cryptocurrency ETF Tops in February: 5 Best Stocks).
On a separate context, Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) has decided to cancel its ambitious project to build an electric car, marking the end of a decade-long effort that aimed to revolutionize the automotive industry. The decision was disclosed internally on Feb 27, 2024, surprising the nearly 2,000 employees dedicated to the project, per Bloomberg (read: Apple Dumps EV for AI: Play AI ETFs).
Against this backdrop, below we highlight winning ETFs of last week.
Bitcoin stood roughly 9% off its all-time high on Friday after a swift rally in the cryptocurrency. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market value traded near $63,000 on Mar 1, 2024. Bitcoin's intraday record on Mar 1 was $68,990.90, according to Dow Jones Market Data, as quoted on Wall Street Journal. The rallyhas been backed by the strong demand for speculation and trading activity. The bitcoin halving event scheduled in April 2024 also led to the rally.
Lithium prices in China rose in late February due to an uptick in short-term demand sentiment. This is the second rise in prices this year, following a slight improvement ahead of the Chinese Spring Festival when the market had expected a notable increase in cathode production in late February and March. There is growing supply concerns of lithium in China after Beijing asked a main producing region to limit the environmental impact of lithium exploration.
Defiance Pure Electric Vehicle ETF – Up 13.2%
Activities have gained momentum in the global electric vehicle space. On Friday, Li Auto, a fast-growing startup rival to BYD and Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) in China, launched the Mega minivan, its first purely battery-electric vehicle. Li said it expects the Mega to drive a delivery rebound in March, as quoted on investors.com. On Thursday, Tesla re-instated an insurance subsidy on its most popular EVs in China, as the price war has been heating up.
Biotech stocks have staged a rebound lately and are being lifted by M&A activities. Novel drug launches, likely low rates and easy access to funds should buoy the zone in 2024.
Direxion Moonshot Innovators ETF – Up 9.3%
The underlying S&P Kensho Moonshots Index comprises of 50 U.S. companies that pursue innovative technologies that have the potential to disrupt existing technologies and have the highest early-stage composite innovation scores which is determined based off a natural language processing review of the latest annual regulatory filing of the company for the use of words & phrases related to innovation. With rates likely to fall in the coming days and disruptive technology to soar, MOON caught investors’ attention last week.
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5 Best ETF Areas of Last Week
Wall Street was mixed last week with the S&P 500 adding about 1%, the Dow Jones retreating 0.1% and the Nasdaq advancing more than 1.7%. Among the key developments, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high on the artificial intelligence boom and the Fed rate cut bets.
Meanwhile, manufacturing data came in at weak but the trend showed signs of improvement. The ISM Manufacturing PMI in the United States dropped to 47.8 in February 2024 from 49.1 in the previous month, way below market expectations of 49.5 and marked the 16th successive period of declines in manufacturing activity. The data quelled previous hopes of fresh momentum in the sector.
Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester said on Thursday that the latest reading on inflation (i.e., a month-over-month jump in the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge) doesn’t change her calculation for three rate cuts later in 2024. She is still predicting three cuts in 2024, an estimate she first made in December.
Bitcoin prices was on a tallying mode last week. Bitcoin jumped as much as 13% to $63,968 in the Feb 28 trading session — its first trip above $60,000 since November 2021. After that, the currency went on trending higher. The rally has set Bitcoin up for its biggest monthly gain since December 2020 (read: Cryptocurrency ETF Tops in February: 5 Best Stocks).
On a separate context, Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) has decided to cancel its ambitious project to build an electric car, marking the end of a decade-long effort that aimed to revolutionize the automotive industry. The decision was disclosed internally on Feb 27, 2024, surprising the nearly 2,000 employees dedicated to the project, per Bloomberg (read: Apple Dumps EV for AI: Play AI ETFs).
Against this backdrop, below we highlight winning ETFs of last week.
ETFs in Focus
Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC - Free Report) – Up 23.6%
Bitcoin stood roughly 9% off its all-time high on Friday after a swift rally in the cryptocurrency. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market value traded near $63,000 on Mar 1, 2024. Bitcoin's intraday record on Mar 1 was $68,990.90, according to Dow Jones Market Data, as quoted on Wall Street Journal. The rallyhas been backed by the strong demand for speculation and trading activity. The bitcoin halving event scheduled in April 2024 also led to the rally.
Sprott Lithium Miners ETF (LITP - Free Report) – Up 18.2%
Lithium prices in China rose in late February due to an uptick in short-term demand sentiment. This is the second rise in prices this year, following a slight improvement ahead of the Chinese Spring Festival when the market had expected a notable increase in cathode production in late February and March. There is growing supply concerns of lithium in China after Beijing asked a main producing region to limit the environmental impact of lithium exploration.
Defiance Pure Electric Vehicle ETF – Up 13.2%
Activities have gained momentum in the global electric vehicle space. On Friday, Li Auto, a fast-growing startup rival to BYD and Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) in China, launched the Mega minivan, its first purely battery-electric vehicle. Li said it expects the Mega to drive a delivery rebound in March, as quoted on investors.com. On Thursday, Tesla re-instated an insurance subsidy on its most popular EVs in China, as the price war has been heating up.
Virtus LifeSci Biotech Clinical Trials ETF (BBC - Free Report) – Up 10.2%
Biotech stocks have staged a rebound lately and are being lifted by M&A activities. Novel drug launches, likely low rates and easy access to funds should buoy the zone in 2024.
Direxion Moonshot Innovators ETF – Up 9.3%
The underlying S&P Kensho Moonshots Index comprises of 50 U.S. companies that pursue innovative technologies that have the potential to disrupt existing technologies and have the highest early-stage composite innovation scores which is determined based off a natural language processing review of the latest annual regulatory filing of the company for the use of words & phrases related to innovation. With rates likely to fall in the coming days and disruptive technology to soar, MOON caught investors’ attention last week.