Gold exchange traded funds rose on Wednesday while Portuguese bond yields surged one day after Moody’s slashed its debt rating on government debt into “junk” status.
CurrencyShares Euro Trust (NYSEArca: FXE) was down nearly 1% at last check on worries credit woes are spreading from Greece and into other weaker countries on the periphery such as Portugal and Ireland.
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) was up about 1% as gold futures rallied to $1,530 an ounce.
The “risk-off” mood in markets was also seen in ETFs tracking the dollar, Treasuries and CBOE Volatility Index futures.
The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSEArca: VXX) added 2.2%, PowerShares DB US Dollar Bullish (NYSEArca: UUP) rose 0.7% and iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (NYSEArca: TLT) climbed 0.5%.
The Portugal downgrade hammered ETFs that invest in European stocks. The largest percentage decliners Wednesday included iShares MSCI Europe Financials (NasdaqGM: EUFN), iShares MSCI Spain (NYSEArca: EWP) and iShares MSCI Italy (NYSEArca: EWI). All suffered declines of at least 2%.