Best-Performing ETFs of Last Week

Wall Street just recorded an upbeat week. The S&P 500 posted 0.8% gains last week, the Dow Jones rose 1%, the Nasdaq advanced 0.8% and the Russell 2000 surged 1.4%. The most notable event of last week was the beginning of the government shutdown early Oct. 1, 2025.

The U.S. federal government shut down after last-minute talks between lawmakers and President Trump failed. This marks the first shutdown since the record-breaking 2018-19 deadlock, which lasted seven weeks during Trump’s first term, as quoted on Yahoo Finance (read: US Government Shutdown Puts These ETFs in Focus).

Among corporate news, electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla TSLA saw its shares lose about 3.2% last week. Its third-quarter 2025 delivery numbers gained 7% year over year, surpassing the weak performance of the previous two quarters.

However, this record delivery was largely driven by the U.S. federal EV subsidy, which expired in September, prompting a rush of buyers hoping to capture the $7,500 tax credit. This means that the upcoming numbers may come in weaker than expected.

Meanwhile, SPDR Gold Trust GLD gained about 1.7% last week, on rising safe-haven demand, arising out of the government shutdown.Traditionally, gold is seen as a reliable store of value and a hedge against economic and geopolitical instability.

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning ETF areas of last week.

Cannabis

AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF MSOS – Up 25.5%

Roundhill Cannabis ETF WEED – Up 23.8%

Cannabis stocks surged last week following Trump’s ratification of cannabidiol (CBD) for senior healthcare, as quoted on globalcoesmeticsnews.com. Expected political backing for cannabis reform remains a key driver of the market rally, as the industry urgently needs it and investors are eagerly awaiting favorable regulatory shifts.

Single Stock ETF        

Roundhill HOOD WeeklyPay ETF HOOW – Up 25.5%

Shares of financial services company Robinhood HOOD jumped 19.7% last week.It offers trading services in crypto, stocks, options, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), cash management, margin and securities lending, and Robinhood Gold. With several investing areas hogging attention last week, the stock surged. 

Hydrogen

Global X Hydrogen ETF HYDR – Up 24%

The ETF HYDR invests about 15% of its weight in Plug Power stock.Plug Power stock surged about 36.4% on Oct. 3, 2025. The surge came after a major analyst raised the company’s price target, boosting investor confidence, as quoted on Economic Times. 

Plug Power has supplied a 10-megawatt GenEco electrolyzer system to Galp, a leading Portuguese energy company.Plug Power has supplied a 10-megawatt GenEco electrolyzer system to Galp, a leading Portuguese energy company. Installed at Galp’s Sines Refinery, the unit will replace 20% of the Galp’s facility’s grey hydrogen with about 15,000 tons of green hydrogen annually, according to Plug Power’s management.

The project is expected to strengthen Galp’s presence in Europe’s clean energy market. Note that the AI industry's expansion (which consumers massive level of energy) has led to an increased need for sustainable energy sources, which includes hydrogen as a potential fuel (read: Best-Performing ETF Areas of September).

Digital Economy

Global X Blockchain ETF BKCH – Up 19.6%

Invesco Alerian Galaxy Crypto Economy ETF SATO – Up 19.3%

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been grabbing attention due to higher institutional and corporate adoption. This is benefiting crypto miners and crypto trading platforms. President Trump’s announcement of creating a crypto reserve has also been favoring the crypto ecosystem this year.

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

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