Friday Dip Still Leaves Most ETFs Up for Week

Stocks ended a five-day upswing with small declines Friday, but major indexes still posted their best weekly gains since July. Most exchange-traded funds ended the week on the positive side.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 22 at 9605. The Dow also closed at 9605 on Sept. 10, 2001—the day before the terror attacks eight years ago. The Nasdaq closed down 3 at 2081, and the S&P 500 was down 1 at 1043.

That was still a 1.5% gain for the week, which boosted the shares of most exchange-traded funds.

While it didn’t seem to help Friday’s trading, the Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment rose to 70.2, its best reading since June. That’s a sign that consumers are starting, slowly, to believe the economy is getting better. “Confidence rebounded in early September as consumers increasingly expected the economy to improve despite their reluctant conclusion that their own financial situation would remain quite problematic for some time,” the report said.

Weakness in the dollar pushed gold futures to $1,007 an ounce as of 4 p.m., near the highest level since February.

Crude futures traded Friday on the Nymex closed down $2.75 to $69.29. For a detailed rundown on Friday’s trading session see our market story.

First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index fund (FCG) climbed 10.7% as energy prices took big swings through the week. The iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average Index fund (IYT) rose 5.3% for the week as investors gravitated back to the industrials sector.

The Market Vectors Gold Miners fund (GDX) took a net drop of 1.5% for the week as investors took profits on gold's spikes above $1,000 an ounce. The SPDR KBW Bank fund (KBE) slipped 1.3% for the week as financial stocks were sold off ahead of the rest of the market on downward swings.

Data Point
State Street Global Advisors reported that assets in the U.S. ETF industry totaled $661 billion as of Aug. 31, after climbing $20.8 billion, or 3.3%, during the month. The firm said 27 ETF managers run a total of 755 exchange-traded funds in the United States.

Launching Pad
Investors can get a share of physical gold bullion through a fund ETF Securities USA launched Thursday. The ETFS Gold Trust (SGOL) is the only U.S. exchange-traded fund linked to bullion stored in a secured Swiss custodial vault, the company said. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.39%.

Money manager Harry Dent's strategy will be put to the ETF test when the AdvisorShares Dent Tactical ETF (DENT), an actively managed fund, launches on Tuesday. AdvisorShares, based in Bethesda, Md., said the fund will follow a quick-reaction strategy that works well in volatile markets. Dent runs HS Dent Investment Management, which is based in Tampa, Fla. The fund charges an expense ratio of 1.56%.