Wall Street delivered an upbeat performance last week, with the Dow Jones logging the best week since July. The other two key indexes — the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq — rocked between gains and losses in the week. Overall, the S&P 500 was up 2.5%, the Dow Jones added 1.4%, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 3.3% and the Russell 2000 was up about 3.6%.

The latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report released on Friday showed August payrolls grew at a faster-than-expected pace, with 187,000 jobs being added. However, job numbers first reported for June and July were revised down by a combined 110,000.

In an evidence of a slowing economy and easing pricing pressures, average hourly earnings increased 4.3% on a year-over-year basis, less than the 4.4% increase expected by economists polled by Dow Jones, as quoted on CNBC. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.8% in August, reaching its highest level in more than a year. Economists had expected it to remain at 3.5%.

The central bank’s preferred inflation gauge showed prices rose 0.2% in July, the same as in June. Core PCE, which bars volatile food and energy prices, also rose 0.2% month over month and 4.2% year over year, a slight uptick on a sequential basis.

Chinese stocks continued to reel under pressure and they fell after data showed manufacturing activity dropped for six months in a row in August. European equities rose after reports showed Euro-area core inflation slowed, raising hopes that the European Central Bank will hold interest rates steady next month.

Benchmark U.S. treasury yield ended the week at 4.18%, while hitting a high of 4.20% at the start of the week and a low of 4.09% on Aug 31. Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning inverse/leveraged ETF areas of last week.

Marijuana

AdvisorShares MSOS 2x Daily ETF MSOX – Up 89.5%

Marijuana stocks surged following a proposal by the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) to reclassify cannabis as a substance with reduced risk, fueling anticipation of federal legalization. The news has spread huge optimism of a Federal-level legalization across the marijuana industry , with shares of several cannabis companies, including Canopy Growth, Tilray Brands and Cronos Group skyrocketing.

Homebuilders

Direxion Daily Homebuilders & Supplies Bull 3X Shares NAIL – Up 20.1%

Warren Buffett’s reputation as an investment achiever is known to all. In the second quarter, Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway established positions in three new stocks, namely NVR (NVR), Lennar (LEN) and D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI). Since then, the space has been soaring.

Moreover, there was a jump in demand as some Americans avoided the historically tight and unaffordable market for existing housing. US mortgage rates too dipped last week, snapping a five-week streak of gains.

Internet

Direxion Daily Dow Jones Internet Bull 3X Shares WEBL – Up 16.5%

Direxion Daily CSI China Internet Index Bull 2x Shares CWEB – Up 15.7%

The AI boom has been in fine fettle as confirmed by the latest earnings releases from the likes of Salesforce and NVIDIA. As a result, internet stocks soared last week no matter what was the interest rate levels. Though an upbeat labor market report released on Friday weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, overall, the internet space was in pink last week.

High Beta

Direxion Daily S&P 500 High Beta Bull 3X Shares HIBL – Up 14.0%

As the broader market delivered gains last week, high-beta stocks that support risk-on trade sentiments, jumped last week. The underlying S&P 500 High Beta Index selects 100 securities to include in the Index from the S&P 500 Index that have the highest sensitivity to beta over the past 12 months.

Regional Banks

Direxion Daily Regional Banks Bull 3X Shares DPST – Up 13.9%

Regional banks ETF surged as investors scooped up these stocks to cash in on the cheaper valuation. The occasional tightening of the yield curve and compelling valuation led to the rally.
Direxion Daily Regional Banks Bull 3X Shares (DPST): ETF Research Reports

Direxion Daily CSI China Internet Index Bull 2X Shares (CWEB): ETF Research Reports

Direxion Daily Homebuilders & Supplies Bull 3X Shares (NAIL): ETF Research Reports

Direxion Daily Dow Jones Internet Bull 3X Shares (WEBL): ETF Research Reports

Direxion Daily S&P 500 High Beta Bull 3X Shares (HIBL): ETF Research Reports

AdvisorShares MSOS 2x Daily ETF (MSOX): ETF Research Reports

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