After a dull couple of weeks, the action on Wall Street picked up on Tuesday, highlighted by a rare public warning from Berkshire to Kraft. It was an eventful day on the data front as well, with a slip in housing data and solid domestic automotive sales numbers the biggest news of the day. Most benchmarks continued a solid year-to-date period, tacking on smaller gains to Monday’s major rally.
The ETFdb 60 Index, a benchmark measuring the performance of asset classes available through ETFs, added 2.33 points, or 0.2%, to close at 1,050.95. After just two sessions, the multi-asset class index is already up 1.6% on the year.
Leading the way higher Tuesday were Chinese equities, as the iShares FTSE/Xinhua 25 Index Fund (FXI) added 2.1%, fueling hopes that 2010 will be another banner year emerging markets. A recent Goldman Sachs report predicted a rally in China stocks driven by favorable policy and liquidity to unfold throughout the year.
Among the biggest losers was the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG), which followed a big gain in the year’s first session with a 3% loss Tuesday. Natural gas futures slid nearly 4% as traders took profits following Monday’s run-up and industrial demand, which accounts for a third of U.S. consumption, remained depressed.
Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.
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