UK & High Yield Bonds: 2 ETFs Trading With Outsized Volume

In the last trading session, U.S. stocks gave a mixed performance. Soft trade numbers from China and a continued slide in oil prices after a no production cut decision at the OPEC meeting stoked global growth worries once again. Among the top ETFs, investors saw SPY shed over 0.3%, DIA lose about 0.9% but QQQ move higher by about 0.01% on the day.

Two more specialized ETFs are worth noting in particular though as both saw trading volume that was far outside of normal. In fact, in the most recent trading session, both these funds experienced volume levels that were more than double their average. This could make these ETFs ones to watch out for in the days ahead to see if this trend of extra interest continues:

(EWU – ETF report): Volume 4.36 times average

This United Kingdom ETF was in focus on Wednesday as roughly 10.2 million shares moved hands compared to an average of roughly 2.35 million shares. We also saw some stock price movement as EWU lost 1.8%.

The movement can largely be blamed on the slump in oil prices as this can have a big impact on E&P stocks like what we find in this ETF’s portfolio. In the last one-month period, EWU was down 3.1%. The fund carries a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold).

(SJNK – ETF report): Volume 3.21 times average

This short-term high yield bond ETF was under the microscope yesterday as nearly 5.6 million shares moved hands. This compares to an average trading volume of 1.76 million shares and came as SJNK lost about 1.1% in the session.

The movement was due to the looming Fed lift-off which weighed heavily on the short-end of the yield curve as well as underperformance in the high-yield space due to the oil price collapse. In the last one-month period, SJNK was down about 3.6%. The fund has a Zacks ETF Rank #4 (Sell).