In a departure from our previous editions of the most searched exchange traded funds of the week, albeit not unexpected, Russia ETFs were extremely popular this week.
Of course, increased search activity in Russia ETFs is the result of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. On Monday, the Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSEArca: RSX), the oldest and largest Russia ETF, and the rival iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF (NYSEArca: ERUS) tumbled following the worst sell-off for Moscow-listed stocks since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. [Russia ETFs Tumble on Ukraine Invasion News]
RSX, ERUS and the SPDR S&P Russia ETF (NYSEArca: RBL) swept the podium as the most searched tickers on ETF Trends this week. Although outside the top-10, the Direxion Daily Russia Bear 3x Shares (NYSEArca: RUSS) was the most searched leveraged ETF on the site and by a wide margin.[From Russia With Leverage]
From the department of “sounding like a broken record,” three of the 10 most searched ETFs on the site this week were health care funds. No surprise here, but two were biotech ETFs; the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NasdaqGS: IBB) and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEArca: XBI).
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV), the largest health care ETF, continues its run of appearances on the most searched recap as investors pump billions of dollars into this sector’s ETFs. [Health Care ETFs Raking in a Lot of Cash]