Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs) tracking Greek equities and natural gas surged last week, placing them among the list of the week’s top performing ETFs.
Greek equities enjoyed a resurgence last week as traders processed early election polls that indicated a preference for New Democracy, the country's pro-austerity party. At the time, a New Democracy victory implied the formation of a pro-bailout coalition and a retreat from the 'Grexit' precipice. The New Democracy party went on to win the general elections over the weekend, though concerns about Greece still remain.
Prices for natural gas saw sharp gains amid news that US natural gas inventories rose much less than had been previously expected. Specifically, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that natural gas inventories rose by 67 billion cubic feet despite expectations for an increase of 71 billion cubic feet. This gave a boost to natural gas-focused ETFs. Additionally, hotter-than-average weather across the US contributed to expectations for increased peak power usage, which relies on natural gas, as US consumers would likely resort to air conditioning.
Meanwhile, ETFs tracking corn futures performed poorly as news was released suggesting short-to-medium term supply of corn was higher than expected. On Tuesday, the US Department of Agriculture announced that its estimate for year-end corn supply will remain unchanged despite market-wide expectations for a drop. Similarly, a forecast released by Informa Economics estimates that corn acreage should be near 96.8 million acres ahead of the USDA forecast of 95.9 million, marking the highest US corn acreage level in 75 years. Without the entrance of new demand drivers, the expectations for increases in future corn supply caused the price of corn to fall over the course of the week.
Here are the details for last week's best and worst performing ETFs: