Today's ASX session was a rough one for most investors. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended the day 0.28% lower and is now back to 8,330.3 points. However, despite this market pullback, we saw more than 20 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) smash out new highs on the ASX today.
As one would expect, none of these ASX ETFs are the popular index funds that cover the Australian markets. But some are popular investments on the ASX nonetheless.
We're not going to cover all of the funds, but here are 10 of the hottest ASX ETFs that clocked new 52-week (or all-time) highs this Thursday:
| ASX ETF | Today's gain | New 52-week high |
| Global X Artificial Intelligence ETF (ASX: GXAI) | 0.61% | $12.43 |
| Global X FANG+ ETF (ASX: FANG) | 2.25% | $32.47 |
| iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) | (0.01%) | $63.69 |
| iShares Global 100 ETF (ASX: IOO) | 0.43% | $160.66 |
| BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) | 0.84% | $50.72 |
| Global X Physical Gold ETF (ASX: GOLD) | 0.54% | $39.28 |
| VanEck MSCI Multifactor Emerging Markets Equity ETF (ASX: EMKT) | 0.69% | $26.24 |
| iShares Future Tech Innovators ETF (ASX: ITEK) | 0.24% | $30.00 |
| BetaShares Online Retail and E-Commerce ETF (ASX: IBUY) | 0.32% | $15.76 |
| Vanguard Ethically Conscious International Share Index ETF (ASX: VESG) | 0.15% | $102.53 |
Why are these ASX ETFs smashing new highs today?
As you can probably tell from their names, all of these ETFs are either gold funds or funds that hold mostly, if not absolutely, international shares.
International shares, particularly the American tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Tesla, have had an extraordinary week of trading, capped off by some massive gains this morning on the US markets.
Take Tesla shares. They rose by almost 6% this morning to close at a previously unseen US$424.77 each. Google owner Alphabet and Amazon also hit record highs last night.
Some (or all, in some cases) of these stocks are among the largest holdings of the GXAI, NDQ, IOO, FANG, IVV, IBUY, ITEK, and VESG ETFs.
In terms of gold, it's not too surprising to see a fund like the Global X Physical Gold ETF hit a new high as well. The price of gold itself rose 1.5% overnight to US$2,751 per ounce – close to a record high. With the Aussie dollar so low, this was bound to result in some hefty gains for ASX gold ETFs today.
So, all in all, it was a great day for ASX exchange-traded funds of most stripes. Let's see how they end the trading week tomorrow.
