The S&P 500 slide almost 1.3% Friday after reaching another record higher earlier in the session. That reversal was enough to send the benchmark U.S. index to a weekly loss of 0.3%.
Impressive were the performances offered by some emerging markets exchange traded funds during Friday’s session. Even those emerging markets ETFs that closed loser on the day did so in modest fashion, easily outperforming U.S. stocks.
A case can be made that the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO) and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: EEM) only closed lower Friday because, by late in the session, traders were simply looking for anything to sell. And that is a good segue to start talking about his week’s most searched ETF on ETF Trends.
VWO and EEM were among the 10-most searched ETFs on the site this week, not surprising given the recent strength displayed by emerging markets ETFs. Several country ETFs also appeared on this week’s list as well, led again by the Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSEArca: RSX). [No Surprises Among Mot Searched ETFs]
The iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWZ) is up nearly 14% in just the past month, after the ETF impressively gained 1.1% on nearly double the average daily volume on Friday. Impressive because EWZ soared while U.S. stocks sagged. Fervor over EWZ is building as the largest Brazil ETF was the second-most searched ETF on the site this week. [Brazil ETF on the Cusp of Something Big]
The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NasdaqGM: IBB) makes a return visit to this week’s list, placing in the top five and for all the wrong reasons. IBB, the largest biotech ETF, was having a decent week until Friday when it lose 4% on almost triple its average daily turnover.
IBB closed the week nearly 11% below its 50-day moving average and just 3.5% above its 200-day line. Biotech’s decline has spurred searches of the ProShares Ultrashort Nasdaq Biotechnology (NasdaqGM: BIS). BIS is up more than 22% in the past month. [Inverse Biotech ETF Suddenly Popular]