Market Moves: Week Ending 3 January 2025

  • Cryptocurrencies (EETH, CRYP, VBTC), in particular Ethereum, were the top performers of the week as traders anticipated the arrival of “alt-coin season”.1 Alt-coin season describes periods during crypto bull markets in which “alternate coins” (cryptocurrencies that are not Bitcoin) can outperform Bitcoin.
  • Uranium ETFs (ATOM, URNM) also outperformed after the US government signed a historic power-purchase agreement with Constellation Energy, a nuclear energy provider.2 A bureaucratic hiccup in Kazakhstan also forced one of the world’s largest uranium mines to halt operations, causing concerns over supply tightness.3
  • China-focused ETFs (CETF, CNEW, IZZ) were the poorest-performing funds of the week. The Chinese Manufacturing PMI, a widely watched metric for economic health, disappointed after falling from 51.5 to 50.5 in December.4 While any PMI above 50 marks an expansion of activity, analysts had expected a PMI of at least 51.7.
  • There were $347.7 million in reported inflows for the week and $163.4 million in outflows, marking a week of net inflows for the Australian ETF industry.

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Looking for more ETF Express content? Check out this week’s Thematic Spotlight and Commodity Calls.