Silver ETFs were this week’s top performers in the commodity markets with gains of more than 4% as investors pumped about $600 million into the largest fund tracking the metal.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca: SLV) has gathered inflows of more than $600 million this week, which represents approximately 6% of the assets under management in the fund, to lead all ETFs. The silver ETF is testing its 50-day simple moving average. [Silver ETF Inflows]
In stock ETFs, SPDR S&P 500 Retail (NYSEArca: XRT) was the most popular fund this week with inflows of more than $500 million, according to IndexUniverse data. [Retail Sales Lift Sector ETF to All-Time High on Heavy Volume]
In the major U.S. equity indices, the S&P 500 rose to a five-year high and was on track for a weekly gain of 0.5% in afternoon trading Friday. The Dow added 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite was flat for the week.
The top three unleveraged ETFs this week were Global X Uranium (NYSEArca: URA), U.S. Natural Gas (NYSEArca: UNG) and PowerShares India (NYSEArca: PIN) with gains of at least 5%.