The iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund (EWP) was the best-performing ETF Thursday, July 26, gaining 7.15 percent on the day following the European central bank’s statement that it would do whatever it took to preserve the euro.
ECB’s comments triggered a rally in the stock market, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average up 212 points to close 1.67 percent higher on the day at 12,887.93. Nine out of the 10 best-performing ETFs Thursday were funds tapping in to Europe.
The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund (ITB) was the only non-Europe-related ETF to make on to Thursday’s top-10 one-day performers list. The $824 million fund climbed just over 5 percent on the day, buoyed by sharp gains in some of its underlying stocks.
Homebuilders PulteGroup and Meritage Homes Corp. reported solid earnings Thursday, triggering a rally among homebuilder stocks. Expectations that D.R. Horton—the country’s largest homebuilder—will also be reporting positive earnings this morning helped support the momentum.
PulteGroup and Meritage are among ITB’s top 10 holdings, representing 9 percent and 4 percent of the portfolio, respectively. D.R. Horton is the fund’s biggest allocation, with a 10.3 percent weighting.
On the flip side, volatility-linked strategies were among the day’s bottom 10 performers, with the iPath S'P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) dropping 7.6 percent amid a massive trading volume of more than 46 million shares.
Sugar funds were also big losers on the day. After having been supported in the past few weeks by ongoing rain in South America, sugar futures prices plummeted Thursday on news that Brazil’s harvest was picking up speed.
The Teucrium Sugar Fund (CANE) slid 4.58 percent Thursday, while the iPath Dow Jones-UBS Sugar Total Return ETN (SGG) fell 4.25 percent.
Top 10 1-Day Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and '1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | 1-Day Performance | 1-Day Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| EWP | iShares MSCI Spain | 7.15% | 656,869 | 165.17 |
| EFNL | iShares MSCI Finland Capped Investable Market | 6.88% | 1,500 | 2.06 |
| EWI | iShares MSCI Italy | 6.53% | 791,327 | 147.25 |
| FEZ | SPDR Euro STOXX 50 | 5.27% | 1,111,646 | 666.16 |
| EWQ | iShares MSCI France | 5.17% | 895,856 | 389.64 |
| ITB | iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction | 5.02% | 1,744,168 | 824.45 |
| EZU | iShares MSCI EMU | 4.83% | 143,774 | 647.82 |
| EUFN | iShares MSCI Europe Financials | 4.79% | 41,466 | 21.11 |
| IPF | SPDR S'P International Financial | 4.76% | 4,308 | 4.73 |
| EWN | iShares MSCI Netherlands Investable Market | 4.72% | 132,008 | 54.37 |
Bottom 10 1-Day Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and '1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | 1-Day Performance | 1-Day Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| CVOL | C-Tracks Exchange-Traded Notes on the Citi Volatility | -10.78% | 21,100 | 6.02 |
| VXX | iPath S'P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | -7.61% | 46,081,310 | 1,640.13 |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term | -7.60% | 1,209,291 | 133.00 |
| VIIX | VelocityShares VIX Short Term ETN | -7.60% | 365,924 | 32.73 |
| FUE | ELEMENTS MLCX Biofuels Total Return ETN | -5.96% | 2,700 | 2.53 |
| CHIM | Global X China Materials | -5.19% | 1,157 | 2.10 |
| VXCC | ETRACS 3-Month S'P 500 VIX Futures ETN | -4.93% | 1,300 | 5.81 |
| CANE | Teucrium Sugar | -4.58% | 5,300 | 1.63 |
| SGG | iPath Dow Jones-UBS Sugar Total Return ETN | -4.25% | 29,306 | 27.95 |
| VIXM | ProShares VIX Mid-term | -3.76% | 9,859 | 78.63 |
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.
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