In December, the Dow was up 2.7%, the Nasdaq gained 2.3% and the S&P 500 was 2.1% higher.
Equities faltered at the start of the December as investors toned down bets in anticipation of Fed tapering and sold off in some profit taking.
In the middle of the month, stocks began another rally spurt after the Fed cleared up some uncertainty and announced a $10 billion tapering, following upbeat economic data. The equities market continued to strengthen for the last two weeks of the year on stronger economic data, such as a 4-month high in the consumer comfort index and a large dip in initial jobless claims. [Don’t Fear the Fed With These Bond ETFs]
Top performing non-leveraged ETFs over December include PowerShares DB Commodity Long ETN (NYSEArca: DPU) up 14.7%, iPath Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas ETN (NYSEArca: GAZ) up 14.7% and United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca: UNG) up 12.6%.
The worst performing non-leveraged ETFs for the month include C-Tracks on Citi Volatility Index ETN (NYSEArca: CVOL) down 20.8%, iShares MSCI Turkey ETF (NYSEArca: TUR) down 14.2% and iPath Pure Beta Precious Metals ETN (NSYEArca: BLNG) down 11.4%.
Happy New Year!
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