Tech Rally Boosted Wall Street Last Week: Winning ETFs in Focus

The S&P 500 rose on Friday, adding to a strong week of gains, as investors continued to assess a shifting global trade environment. Major tech stocks helped lift the broader market last week.

The major averages rose last week, recording their second positive week out of three. The S&P 500 gained 4.6%, the Dow Jones added 2.5%, the Nasdaq jumped 6.7% and the Russell 2000 advanced 4.1% last week (as of April 25, 2025).

Despite this week's rally, April has been mixed overall. The Nasdaq is now slightly positive for the month, but the S&P 500 remains down 1.5% month to date, and the Dow has fallen 4.5%.

Tech Giants Lead the Rally

Big tech stocks were a major catalyst on April 25. Alphabet GOOGL gained 1.7% after the Google parent reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings on both revenues and profits. Tesla TSLA surged 9.8%, while NVIDIA NVDA and Meta Platforms META also posted strong advances of 4.3% and 2.7%, respectively.

Trade Tensions Keep Markets Volatile

Market volatility has remained elevated as traders react to ongoing developments in global trade policy. Uncertainty surrounds U.S.-China trade talks after China said on April 24 that there were no negotiations underway, following earlier U.S. signals suggesting a possible softening in stance.

Further confusion came from President Donald Trump’s comments. In an interview published by Time magazine, Trump said he would consider it a "total victory" if high tariffs of 20% to 50% on foreign imports remain for a year from now, as quoted on CNBC.

Yet, in comments made Tuesday but published Friday, he hinted at upcoming trade deal announcements "over the next three to four weeks." Speaking separately to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he would not lift tariffs unless China "gives us something substantial." As of now, Trump wants China to be “open” to more U.S. goods being sold in that country, as quoted on CNBC.

Outlook: Tariff Fears May Have Peaked

Despite the ongoing uncertainty, some market strategists are optimistic. Jay Hatfield, founder and chief investment officer at InfraCap, believes the worst of the tariff-driven market swings may be over, as quoted on the above-mentioned CNBC article. He expects a positive outlook from here.

Looking ahead, Hatfield points to upcoming earnings from major hyperscaler firms like Microsoft and Amazon as key drivers for the markets in the coming week.

Trump Meme Coin Leads to Crypto Rally

The TRUMP meme coin jumped last week after teasing a private gala dinner with Donald Trump for the top 220 buyers, set for May 22 at Trump National Golf Club.The Trump family is deepening its crypto push with ventures like World Liberty Financial and a pivot by Trump Media. Trump, pledging to be "America’s first crypto president," is deemed to be easing crypto regulations. This boosted key cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin last week.

Winning ETFs of Last Week

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of the last week.

Tech – VanEck Semiconductor ETF SMH – Up 12.3%

Biotech – Virtus LifeSci Biotech Clinical Trials ETF BBC – Up 10.4%

High Beta – Invesco S&P 500 High Beta ETF SPHB – Up 10.2%

Crypto – iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT – Up 9.4%

Large-Cap Growth – Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF VUG – Up 8.5%

Brazil – iShares MSCI Brazil ETF EWZ – Up 6.5%

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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