Uranium and China Tech ETFs are among best ETFs this week

Uranium ETFs rise on rejuvenated Uranium buying spree

Uranium is having a nice run so far this year due to rejuvenated investors' interest. The price has risen from this year's low of $27.7/lb in March to $38.7/lb on September 5th and has zeroed in on its 6-year highs.

Catalysts that are driving uranium prices are:

• Recent buying spree from Sprott Physical Uranium Trust who bought 4.4 million pounds of physical Uranium since they launched their "At-The-Market" Equity Program in August 17.
• Kazatomprom announcing it may buy additional Uranium in the spot market during the second half of this year to meet demands. The company is the world's largest producer of uranium and is responsible for 23% of global primary uranium production in 2020.
• Morgan Stanley recent spot price target for Uranium at $US48.50/lb in 2024 while long-term contract prices could be significantly higher.

The rise in Uranium prices have benefited Uranium ETFs with exposure to Uranium miners and producers of nuclear components. Last week alone, North Shore Global Uranium Mining ETF (URNM), Horizons Global Uranium Index ETF (HURA) and Global X Uranium ETF (URA) gained more than 15%.

Chinese technology giants align with Government's "Common Prosperity" campaign

China's crackdown this year on various growth industries have caused massive selloffs in shares of tech and internet companies as investors worried about the long-term effect the tight grip may have on growth prospects.

Recently however, major Chinese companies responded to President Xi Jinping calls

for wealth distribution under the “Common Prosperity” campaign, with Alibaba announcing it will invest 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) over the next few years. Other tech giants like Tencent, Pinduoduo, Xiaomi and Meituan have also vowed to contribute with billions of their own.

Despite the donation’s future effect on their bottom line, investors are hoping that the latest move would ease regulatory pressure. This wave optimism has led bargain hunters to bet again on Chinese tech and internet stocks pushing related ETFs higher last week.

KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) gained more than 8% in America and Europe. This ETF invests in Chinese businesses that are in the Internet and Internet-related sectors. Its main holdings include Tencent (10.56%), Alibaba (8.91%) and JD.com (8.07%).

Other ETF involved in that space like KraneShares Hang Seng TECH Index ETF (KTEC), Invesco Golden Dragon China ETF (PGJ) and HSBC Hang Seng TECH UCITS ETF (HSTE) rose by more than 6%.

Honorable mentions: Crypto, Natural Gas and Japan ETFs

Cryptocurrency ETFs return to the realm of our Weekly Best ETFs after slumping the week prior (August 23-27). Total market cap was close to breach the $2.5 trillion mark; a milestone last achieved when Bitcoin (BTC) rose above $60,000 in mid-May 2021. The bulk of the Crypto ETF action was in Europe, where Crypto ETPs and ETFs are mostly authorized compared to the United States, which continues to fend off Bitcoin and other Crypto ETFs filings.  Read Bitcoin ETFs: When will it hit the US market?

The top performers in that space were 21Shares Polkadot ETP, VanEck Vectors Ethereum ETN, WisdomTree Ethereum ETP and Evolve Ether ETF with more than 20% gains.

Natural Gas ETFs rose on higher prices triggered by U.S supply shortage after storm Ida disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico with power outages and severe damage at Port Fourchon. The Port represents a key staging area for oil and gas service companies in the Gulf and harbours several major natural gas processing plants.

Japan Equities ETFs tracking Japanese Indices closed higher that week after Prime Minister Suga's announced on Friday his plan to step aside after just a year in office. Suga's sudden decision came after he had spent days trying to salvage a historically unpopular administration, who according to several polls, failed to manage the coronavirus pandemic.

Investors are optimist that the future replacement will be able to better handle the pandemic and spur economic recovery.

iShares Core MSCI Japan IMI UCITS ETF and Xtrackers Nikkei 225 UCITS ETF ended last week up by more than 5%.

Top 10 ETFs of the week (excluding Crypto):

Europe

• KraneShares CSI China Internet UCITS ETF: +7.91%
• WisdomTree Natural Gas: +6.63%
• HSBC Hang Seng TECH UCITS ETF: +5.88%
• EMQQ Emerging Markets Internet and Ecommerce UCITS ETF: +5.72%
• Lyxor PEA PME (DR) UCITS ETF: +5.70%
• WisdomTree Cloud Computing UCITS ETF: +5.12%
• Xtrackers Nikkei 225 UCITS ETF: +5.38%
• iShares Core MSCI Japan IMI UCITS ETF: +5.26%
• iShares Sustainable MSCI Japan SRI: +5.00%
• AMUNDI JPX-NIKKEI 400 UCITS ETF: +4.98%

Americas

• North Shore Global Uranium Mining ETF: +20.53%
• Horizons Global Uranium Index ETF: +18.25%
• Global X Uranium ETF: +15.70%
• Global X China Energy ETF: +9.82%
• KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF: +8.67%
• Global X MSCI China Utilities ETF: +8.25%
• BMO China Equity Index ETF: +8.16%
• United States Natural Gas Fund: +7.39%
• Wedbush ETFMG Global Cloud Technology ETF: +7.34%
• KraneShares Hang Seng TECH Index ETF: +7.13%

Top 10 Crypto ETFs of the week:

• 21Shares Polkadot ETP: +25.64%
• VanEck Vectors Ethereum ETN: +25.45%
• WisdomTree Ethereum ETP: +23.65%
• Evolve Ether ETF: +23.62%
• Ether Tracker Euro ETC: +23.43%
• 21Shares Ethereum ETP: +23.26%
• CoinShares Physical Ethereum: +23.12%
• 3iQ CoinShares Ether ETF: +21.95%
• Purpose Ether ETF: +21.88%
• CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF: +21.33%

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