Equities and stock exchange traded funds are looking rosier as markets quickly recovered over February, with broad benchmark indices breaking record highs after growth concerns induced a January correction.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 6.5% since the February 3 low. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 8.2% and the S&P 500 surged 7.1%.
The top performing non-leveraged exchange traded products over the past month include the iPath Dow Jones-UBS Coffee Total Return Sub-Index ETN (NYSEArca: JO) up 56.4%, iPath Pure Beta Coffee ETN (NYSEArca: CAFE) up 52.5% and iPath DJ-UBS Softs TR Sub-Idx ETN (NYSEArca: JJS) up 28.7%.
Coffee prices have been soaring this year as traders pushed up prices, betting on significant crop damage in Brazil, the world’s largest producer of coffee beans, as dry weather stunts growth in a crucial stage in the beans’ development. [Coffee ETN Gets Hyper as Brazilian Crops Wither]
Brazil is also a large global supplier of sugar. JJS, which includes 31.3% in coffee, 48.4% in sugar and 20.2% in cotton, is also benefiting from the drought conditions in Brazil. The country is one of the largest commodity producers as 20% of the country’s workforce engages in agriculture, and over a quarter of the country’s exports earnings come from agricultural goods. [Brazil Drought Sweetens Sugar ETNs]
The worst performing non-leveraged funds over the past month include C-Tracks on Citit Volatility Index ETN (NYSEArca: CVOL) down 13.8%, Global X Nigeria Index ETF (NYSArca: NGE) down 7.6% and VelocityShares Emerging Market DR ETF (NYSEArca: EMDR) down 7.1%.
The first day of February started off on a weak footing. However, bargain hunters started to dive back into markets in droves the next day.
Improving economic data, including strong non-manufacturing and employment data, helped sustain the momentum.
The stock markets didn’t skip a beat as Janet Yellen debuted as the new Federal Reserve chief. Yellen made it clear that the central bank will stay on course and Fed policy will remain data-dependent.
Market gains began to slow but continued to steadily rise through the end of February, with the S&P 500 up to a new record high.
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