Wall Street posted gains last week, despite Friday’s decline. The S&P 500 added 0.9% last week, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.7%, boosted by a 12% surge in UnitedHealth UNH. The UNH stock skyrocketed about 12% on Aug. 15, 2025.
Semiconductor names weighed on the market on Friday. Applied Materials AMAT fell 14% on Aug. 15, 2025, dragging the VanEck Semiconductor ETF SMH down 2.1%. Industry leader NVIDIA NVDA also slipped nearly 1% on Aug. 15, 2025. Still, the AI boom and talks of the Fed rate cuts are supporting the market outlook.
Consumer Sentiment Weakens
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 58.6 in August from 61.7 in July, reflecting growing concerns about inflation. The rally was aided by fresh inflation data that boosted hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
Retail Sales Show Resilience
July’s retail sales data indicated consumers’ strength. Headline sales increased 0.5%, in line with Dow Jones consensus estimates, while sales excluding autos gained 0.3%, matching expectations.
ETFs in Focus
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of last week.
GraniteShares 2x Long INTC Daily ETF INTW – Up 42.2% Last Week
The GraniteShares 2x Long INTC Daily ETF seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 2 times the daily percentage change of the common stock of Intel Corp. The expense ratio of the fund is 1.50%.
Leverage Shares 2X Long UNH Daily ETF UNHG – Up 42.0% Last Week
The Leverage Shares 2X Long UNH Daily ETF seeks daily levered investment results, before fees and expenses, of two times the daily percentage change in the price of the common stock of UNH. The fund charges 75 bps in fees.
GraniteShares 2x Long RDDT Daily ETF RDTL – Up 30.0%
Reddit Inc (RDDT) shares advanced 14.5% last week. The GraniteShares 2x Long RDDT Daily ETF seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 2 times the daily percentage change of the common stock of Reddit Inc. The expense ratio of the fund is 1.50%.
Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SOUN ETF SOUX – Up 26.1%
SoundHound AI Inc SOUN shares gained 12.9% last week. The Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SOUN ETF seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of two times the daily percentage change in the share price of SoundHound AI Inc. The expense ratio of the fund is 1.31%.
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UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT): Free Stock Analysis Report VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH): ETF Research Reports SoundHound AI, Inc. (SOUN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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