The commodities sell-off Wednesday was the latest sign that investors are growing more sensitive to risk with the Federal Reserve’s stimulus program set to expire at the end of June. The latest plunge in silver and oil prices had investors dumping stocks Wednesday as the Dow suffered a triple-digit loss. Investors are all too familiar with risk and volatility within markets these days, but there are ways to protect against these factors. [Risk and Your ETF Portfolio: How to Protect It]
Financial ETFs tracked the market lower Wednesday as investors worried about the impact of a guilty verdict for Raj Rajaratnam on insider trading charges, and banks’ exposure to mortgage losses. Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLF) was down 1% while top holding Citigroup (NYSE: C) shed over 3%. [Citigroup, Mortgage Woes Drag Down Financial ETF]
U.S. Gasoline Fund (NYSEArca: UGA) was down 7% Wednesday as oil and gasoline prices fell sharply after the Energy Department said inventories rose in the latest week while demand weakened. There were also reports that CME Group and Nymex halted trading in some energy futures markets. [Gasoline ETF Tumbles 7%]
Internet-sector ETFs fell Wednesday along with top holding Yahoo (NasdaqGS: YHOO) after the company in a filing said the ownership of Alibaba Group’s online payment business, Alipay, was restructured. Yahoo has an ownership stake in Alibaba. The stock was down nearly 6%. [Internet ETFs Follow Yahoo Lower After Restructuring]
Gregory A. Clay contributed to this article.