Marking another volatile week for the stock market, Exchange-Traded Funds have begun to demonstrate the impact of the warning signs of a global economic slowdown that is coming from investment fears surrounding trade. This week's market has also been affected by the swell of third quarter earnings data from giant global companies, some of whom have dramatically missed their earns expectations due to the increased trade tensions felt globally. The S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) has remained in a stagnant state of gains and losses for the week. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) has also continued that trend, though the fund is trading mostly in the positive territory this week.
As for sector ETFs, they are only maintaining healthy growth when the global market is growing. Energy (XLE) has been mostly increasing this week, though most of the gains have been lost as the week continues. Financials (XLF) are also trading well in the more optimistic market, though maintaining gains has been hard for many sectors. Utilities (XLU) has been increasing pretty steadily this week, as have Industrials (XLI) as the market reaction to the U.S.-China trade war has begun to settle into the routine rise and fall. Technology (XLK), being one of the best performers of the year, is also increasing steadily this week. Health Care (XLV) started a decent throughout the week, with the sector continuing to be affected by lawsuits over pharmaceuticals. Finally, Consumer Staples (XLP) continue to grow in the current stock climate, but Consumer Discretionary (XLY) has begun to slump.
In Commodity ETFs, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) have been ever increasing as global recession fears drive investors to cling to the precious metal. The United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) has seen an increase later in the week, though this year by far has seen this fund slumping. The United States Oil Fund (USO) has been making some positive gains since its decrease in September, but as a whole is still on a losing streak compared to trading last year.
Finally, in Currency ETFs, the Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) has been increasing this week due to more positive trade conditions brought by news of a coming agreement between U.S. and China. The British Pound (FXB) has been fluctuating wildly this month due to Brexit investment fears, first trading positively early in the week but beginning to slump more recently.