Best Leveraged ETFs of Last Week

Wall Street was downbeat last week. The S&P 500 posted its worst week in 18 months after weak U.S. jobs data triggered Fed rate cut debates and the tech sector slumped. Tech king NVIDIA NVDA (down 13.9% last week) caused market uncertainty amid concerns that prices soared on the boom around artificial intelligence (AI), and weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.8% last week and the Dow Jones declined 2.9%. The Labor Department reported that U.S. employment increased less than expected in August while the jobless rate declined in line with expectations to 4.2% from 4.3% in July, suggesting a slowdown in the labor market.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 142,000 in August but fell short of the 160,000 increase that economists polled by Reuters had expected while July numbers were revised down to 89,000 from 114,000. Treasury yields tumbled, recovered and then fell again after the jobs report showed that U.S. employers hired fewer workers in August than expected by economists.

The closely watched jobs data showed labor market momentum slowing more than expected, indicating that it is tough for the United States to achieve a soft landing. Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few leveraged ETFs that gained last week.

Best-Performing Leveraged ETFs in Focus

2x Long VIX Futures ETF (UVIX) – Up 51.1%

The underlying Long VIX Futures Index expresses the daily performance of a theoretical portfolio of the first and second-month VIX futures contracts that are rolled daily. The expense ratio of the ETF is 2.31%.

Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3x Shares (SOXS) – Up 39.7%

The underlying ICE Semiconductor Index measures the performance of the semiconductor sub-sector of the U.S. equity market. The expense ratio of the ETF is 1.03% annually. The ETF yields 9.66% annually.

GraniteShares 2x Short NVDA Daily ETF (NVD) – Up 31.1%

The GraniteShares 2x Short NVDA Daily ETF seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of -2 times the daily percentage change of the common stock of NVIDIA Corp. The expense ratio of the ETF is 1.50% annually. The ETF yields 60.34% annually.

ProShares UltraShort Ether ETF (ETHD) – Up 25.9%

The underlying Bloomberg Ethereum Index measures the performance of a single ether traded in USD and seeks to provide a proxy for the ether market. The expense ratio of the ETF is 1.01%. The ETF yields 3.47% annually.

Direxion Daily Technology Bear 3X Shares (TECS) – Up 24.4%

The underlying Technology Select Sector Index includes domestic companies from the following industries: computers & peripherals; software; diversified telecommunications services; communications equipment; semiconductors & semiconductor equipment; internet software & services; IT services; electronic equipment, instruments & components; wireless telecommunication services; & office electronics. The expense ratio of the ETF is 1.10%. The ETF yields 5.72% annually.

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