The month of July was chockablock with economic events with some crashing the global market and some showering smart gains on it. A resolution of the one-and-half month long Greek debt deal drama, upheaval in Chinese shares, the long-standing guesswork on the Fed’s liftoff timeline and the takeoff of the all-important earnings season dominated headlines throughout the month.

The combined impact of these events led the largest S&P 500-focused U.S. ETF SPY to add about 1.6%, Nasdaq-oriented ETF QQQ to rise 0.9% but Dow-based ETF DIA  to shed about 0.1% in July. iShares MSCI All Country World Index Fund (ACWI - ETF report) advanced about 0.1% in the month. Overall, the global market was anything but great.

Investors might want to check out the top and worst performing ETFs of July to see which products sailed through rough waters and the ones that sank.

ETF Winners of July

Market Vectors India Small-Cap Index ETF (SCIF) – up 12.22%

After rough trading all through in the second quarter, the Indian market bounced back from late June. Reduced worries over monsoon deficiency, a timely correction in the stock market and rising domestic investments did the trick. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) too slashed interest rates thrice this year with the latest cut seen on June 2. Soft crude price in July was another market driver (read: 3 India ETFs Surging Back to Health).

Though many ETFs focused on India posted solid gains, small-cap ETF SCIF emerged as a clear winner surging more than 12% in the month as small-cap equities are normally more focused on the domestic market.

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Health Care Fund (DXJH) – up 10.43%

Japan equities are on a tear this year as the yen is falling against the greenback which is shoring up Japan’s export-centric corporate world. Among these, Japan health care ETF gained special attention returning over 10.4%. The fund’s currency-hedged technique gave it an edge as this mitigated negative currency translation during the month (read: Flurry of New Currency Hedged ETFs Fuels Price War).

Medical Breakthroughs ETF (SBIO) – up 9.92%
 

Not only Japan, health care seems to be one of the healthiest sectors all over the world. Back home, the sector is outperforming the overall market thanks to strong earnings growth, merger and acquisition frenzy, encouraging industry fundamentals, promising new drugs and the Affordable Care Act that looks to expand the base of insured persons across the U.S.

All these benefitted biotech ETF SBIO which targets companies with one or more drugs in Phase II or Phase III FDA clinical trials. SBIO rose about 10% in July (read: 5 Healthy Stocks in the Top Biotech ETF).

ETF Losers of July

C-Tracks on Citi Volatility Index ETN (CVOL) – down 26.7%

Volatility may have crept up in July, but not volatility products. This was probably because even if occasional headwinds rattled investors’ confidence, the undercurrent in global investment arena was strong due to a flurry of policy easing and the pretty reasonable U.S. growth momentum. While many volatility products were tattered in July, CVOL lost the most (read: 4 Worst Performing U.S. Equity ETFs So Far in 2015).

iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING) – down 22.81%

Metal and mining sector was crushed in July, in particular gold and silver. The prospect of rising rates in the U.S. and the resultant strength in the U.S. dollar as well as persistent release of offhand economic data from China (which is one of the biggest consumers of gold) wrecked havoc on gold prices.

Gold mining stocks and the related ETFs bore the brunt as these are often regarded as a leveraged play of the underlying metal. While most gold mining ETFs were thrashed, RING became one the worst performers among the pack (read: Gold Mining ETFs Are Crashing).
Investors should note that several gold, silver and precious metal ETFs eroded gains in the month of July due to a tough operating environment.

PowerShares S&P SmallCap Energy Portfolio (PSCE) – down 20.26%

Energy stocks and the related ETFs have been losing steam over the last few months and the situation is from being stable. While the entire sector is upset due to low oil prices, small-cap stocks seem more vulnerable as these lack scale advantage and find it tough to arrange financing in the face of steep losses. Thanks to this fundamental, PSCE has received the worst performer tag, having lost over 20% (read: Can Energy ETFs Regain Fervor on Capital Spending Cuts?).