- When it comes to ETF winners and losers, the U.S. and Russia scored while Mexico, Ireland and Italy had a harder time -- and the blue-chip Dow may have been the year's biggest standout.
- The DJIA SPDR (NYSEARCA:DIA) gained 13.5% for the year, outpacing the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY, which gained 9.6%). Meanwhile iShares' Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM) gained 19.8% for 2016.
- Energy, financials and industrials were winners among sectors (Energy SPDR XLE up 24.9% on the year; Financial SPDR XLF up 20.2%; Industrial SDR XLI up 17.4%), while the healthcare SPDR XLV slipped 4.3%.
- Among single-country funds, Peru (NYSEARCA:EPU), Brazil (NYSEARCA:EWZ) and Russia (NYSEARCA:ERUS) logged strong gains (62.5%, 61.2% and 50.6% respectively) while Italy (NYSEARCA:EWW) and Mexico (NYSEARCA:EWI) posted heavy declines (-11.9% and -11.8% respectively).
- Fixed-income ETFs stayed relatively flat all year, but gold (GLD, up 8% for year) and silver (SLV, up 14.6%) performed among commodities.