Saturday, August 15, 2009

7 ETFs YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR FRIDAY

Here are 7 ETFs You Need to Know for Friday.

Outperformance by financial stocks like Bank of America (BAC | Chart | News | PowerRating) and First Third Bancorp (FITB | Chart | News | PowerRating) helped make financial ETFs among Thursday's best performers. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index ETF (IYF | Chart | News | PowerRating) gained nearly 1% intraday while the the Retail Bank HOLDRS ETF (RKH | Chart | News | PowerRating) climbed by more than 1.5% late in trading.

Neck and neck with the financials in competition for trader and investor dollars were materials stocks like Alcoa (AA | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold (FCX | Chart | News | PowerRating). This meant higher prices for exchange-traded funds linked to the basic materials sector such as the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB | Chart | News | PowerRating), which closed at its highest levels since September 2008.

Still mired in a 16-day trading range is the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 ETF (FXI | Chart | News | PowerRating), which pulled back mildly above the 200-day moving average on Thursday.

At its highest closing levels in five days, the United States Oil Fund (USO | Chart | News | PowerRating) gained more than 1% on Thursday, just edging into overbought territory above the 200-day.

With news of their economies producing modest GDP growth for the second quarter, both Germany and France saw their most widely traded ETFs rally by more than 1% on Thursday. The iShares MSCI Germany Index ETF (EWG | Chart | News | PowerRating) includes stocks like Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Telekom. The iShares MSCI France Index ETF (EWQ | Chart | News | PowerRating) has among its largest components, Total SA and Sanofi-Aventis.

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