In August, US equity markets performed strongly, and the second half of the month brought new highs to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 as well as the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 index.
Today we review exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that were clear winners in August. Understandably, our list is not comprehensive and does not include leveraged and inverse ETFs.
A number of these funds could inspire readers to put together long-term diversified portfolios within their risk/return parameters. We've covered a large number of these funds previously, and we plan to discuss others in the future.
3 ETFs Following The 3 Major US Indices
Before we move on to best performers, let's take a look at funds that give exposure to the three most-followed US indices—the Dow Jones, S&P and NASDAQ. These three ETFs, which act as proxies for those major indices, deserve our attention:
SPDR® Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA), which tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average: up 1.4% in August (covered here).
SPDR® S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index: up 2.5% in August (covered here).
Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ), which tracks the NASDAQ 100 index: up 2.7% in August (covered here).
60 Additional Winners
- Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (NYSE:ARGT): up 12.4% for the month;
- iShares MSCI Turkey ETF (NASDAQ:TUR): up 11.2%;
- SPDR® S&P Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:XSD): up 10.8%;
- United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSE:UNG): up 10.4%;
- KraneShares Global Carbon ETF (NYSE:KRBN): up 9.8%;
- Teucrium Sugar (NYSE:CANE): up 9.7%;
- Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (NYSE:BLOK): up 9.1%;
- Global X MSCI China Materials ETF (NYSE:CHIM): up 8.5%;
- Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (NASDAQ:BOTZ): up 8.1%;
- iShares MSCI India ETF (NYSE:INDA): up 7.1%;
- SPDR® S&P Transportation ETF (NYSE:XTN): up 5.7%
- Invesco Dynamic Semiconductors ETF (NYSE:PSI): up 5.6%;
- Invesco BuyBack Achievers ETF (NASDAQ:PKW): up 5.5%;
- Global X Genomics & Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQ:GNOM): up 5.4%;
- Invesco S&P SmallCap 600® Pure Value ETF (NYSE:RZV): up 5.4%;
- The Acquirers Fund ETF (NYSE:ZIG): up 5.3%;
- Invesco S&P Spin-Off ETF (NYSE:CSD): up 5.2%;
- Invesco Dynamic Networking ETF (NYSE:PXQ): up 5.2%;
- Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (NYSE:CGW): up 5.1%;
- SPDR® S&P Insurance ETF (NYSE:KIE): up 5.1%;
- Invesco KBW Regional Banking ETF (NASDAQ:KBWR): up 5.1%;
- iShares Global Financials ETF (NYSE:IXG): up 5.0%;
- Global X MSCI Greece ETF (NYSE:GREK): up 4.9%;
- iShares US Financial Services ETF (NYSE:IYG): up 4.8%;
- First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ:CIBR): up 4.8%;
- iPath® Series B Bloomberg Cotton Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSE:BAL): up 4.6%;
- KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index (NYSE:KARS): up 4.5%;
- iShares MSCI Frontier and Select EM ETF (NYSE:FM): up 4.5%;
- Invesco S&P SmallCap Industrials ETF (NASDAQ:PSCI): up 4.5%;
- iShares US Technology ETF (NYSE:IYW): up 4.4%;
- ALPS Emerging Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (NYSE:EDOG): up 4.2%
- Invesco S&P SmallCap Materials ETF (NASDAQ:PSCM): up 4.0%;
- iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF (NYSE:EWGS): up 4.0%;
- iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF (NYSE:IJJ): up 3.9%;
- ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (NYSE:ARKQ): up 3.9%;
- Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF (NYSE:CALF): up 3.8%;
- SPDR® S&P Biotech ETF (NYSE:XBI): up 3.6%;
- iShares MSCI Denmark ETF (NYSE:EDEN): up 3.6%
- iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (NYSE:IJR): up 3.5%;
- Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund ETF Shares (NYSE:VGT): up 3.5%;
- KFA Large Cap Quality Dividend Index ETF (NYSE:KLCD): up 3.5%;
- Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF (NYSE:COWZ): up 3.4%;
- SPDR® S&P Metals and Mining ETF (NYSE:XME): up 3.3%;
- First Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process ETF (NASDAQ:LEGR): up 3.2%;
- Barron's 400 ETF (NYSE:BFOR): up 3.1%;
- VanEck Vectors Gaming ETF (NASDAQ:BJK): up 3.1%;
- Robo Global® Robotics and Automation Index ETF (NYSE:ROBO): up 3.0%;
- Invesco S&P SmallCap 600® Pure Growth ETF (NYSE:RZG): up 2.9%
- First Trust NASDAQ® Clean Edge® Green Energy Index Fund (NASDAQ:QCLN): up 2.8%;
- iShares Mortgage Real Estate Capped ETF (NYSE:REM): up 2.7%;
- KraneShares MSCI China Clean Technology ETF (NYSE:KGRN): up 2.6%;
- iShares US Utilities ETF (NYSE:IDU): up 2.6%;
- Defiance 5G Next Gen Connectivity ETF (NYSE:FIVG): up 2.5%;
- Impact Shares YWCA Women's Empowerment ETF (NYSE:WOMN): up 2.5%;
- WisdomTree US SmallCap Dividend Fund (NYSE:DES): up 2.4%;
- iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (NYSE:EFG): up 2.3%;
- VanEck Vectors Low Carbon Energy ETF (NYSE:SMOG): up 2.3%;
- ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF (NYSE:IZRL): up 2.1%;
- SPDR S&P Kensho Intelligent Structures (NYSE:SIMS): up 1.9%;
- Invesco NASDAQ Next Gen 100 ETF (NASDAQ:QQQJ): up 1.7%.