Top-Performing ETF Areas of August That Are Up At Least 20%

The S&P 500 logged its fourth successive month of gains to close out August. Even after the late last-week retreat, stocks managed to post gains for August. The S&P 500 advanced 1.5% during the month, while the Dow Jones rose 3.2%, marking the fourth successive monthly increase for both indexes, as quoted on Yahoo Finance. The S&P 500 hit a record high in August.

The Nasdaq capped the month with a 1.6% gain, notching its fifth consecutive monthly rise and its longest winning streak in nearly a year and a half, as quoted on Yahoo Finance. Small-cap stocks also thrived, with the Russell 2000 surging about 7% for August — its fourth consecutive monthly gain and strongest streak in over four years, as mentioned in the same Yahoo Finance article.

Inflation Data Above Fed’s Target

U.S. stocks slipped on Friday due to the release of the latest government data on inflation. The personal consumption expenditures price index showed that core inflation was a 2.9% seasonally adjusted in July, meeting estimates but higher than June, as quoted on CNBC. The persistence of inflation above the Fed’s 2% target is worrisome. The annual pace also marked the highest increase since February, as quoted on CNBC.

Consumer Sentiment Weakens

Consumer sentiment fell to a three-month low in August as tariff-related concerns about the economic outlook and inflation overpowered the sentiment, according to the University of Michigan’s closely watched survey. Respondents indicated expectations for faster inflation over the coming year.

Fed Rate Cut Bets Heighten

Despite the firmer inflation reading, bets on a rate cut in September remained strong. Traders continued to price in an 86.4% chance of a quarter-point reduction (per CME FedWatch Tool) (at the time of writing), reflecting confidence that the Fed will ease monetary policy to counter a slowing labor market.

Tech Sector Remained on Edge in August

The late part of August saw a volatile phase for the tech stocks. Talks of an AI bubble fear were prevalent in the market. OpenAI’s Sam Altman floated the talks, as quoted on CNBC. On the final day of the month, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the Wall Street pullback, falling about 1.2% due to a Big Tech rout.

NVIDIA Corp. NVDA lost over 3.3% on Aug. 29, 2025. Tesla TSLA shares retreated 3.5% on the day while Meta Platforms Inc. META shares were down 1.7% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN shares dived over 1.1% on that day.

ETFs in Focus

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of the month of August.

Cannabis

Roundhill Cannabis ETF WEED – Up 91.3% Past Month

Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF CNBS – Up 83.2%

Cannabis stocks and ETFs soared in August after reports that President Donald Trump gave hints of considering reclassifying marijuana (as quoted on Wall Street Journal) to a less restrictive drug category. The likely move would shift marijuana from Schedule I, where it currently sits alongside heroin and cocaine, to Schedule III (as quoted on abcnews.com). This would be a beneficial step for the cannabis industry.

Asia-Pacific

KraneShares SSE STAR Market 50 Index ETF KSTR – Up 29.7%

The underlying SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 Index comprises the 50 largest companies listed on the SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board as determined by market capitalization and liquidity. The fund charges 89 bps in fees.

Materials

Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF GBUG – Up 25.5%

The Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF aims to provide long-term capital appreciation by investing in shares of gold and silver-focused companies that are engaged in exploring, developing and mining; or royalty and streaming companies engaged in the financing of gold and silver assets. The fund charges 89 bps in fees.

China

VanEck ChiNext ETF CNXT – Up 25%

The underlying ChiNext Index tracks the performance of the 100 largest and most liquid China A-share stocks listed and trading on the Small and Medium Enterprise Board and the ChiNext Board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The fund charges 65 bps in fees.

Bitcoin Miners

CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF WGMI – Up 23.9%

The CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF provides exposure to companies involved in bitcoin mining operations and does not invest directly in bitcoin. The fund charges 75 bps in fees.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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