The strong momentum seen in 2017 continues this year with stock markets across the globe witnessing an upside. MSCI World Index has risen in eight of the nine trading sessions so far this year. This is primarily thanks to an uptick in global economic growth, low inflation, tightening monetary stance by major central banks, and increasing oil price.

On the Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq registered eight record closings in the first nine trading days of 2018, while the Dow boasted its sixth closing high of the year. Per CNBC, the S&P 500 is enjoying its best 10-day start to a year since 2003, climbing 4.2% buoyed by stronger-than-expected corporate earnings and a slew of upbeat economic data.

Meanwhile, yields are on the rise with two-year U.S. Treasury yields topping 2% for the first time since the financial crisis while the U.S. dollar slumped to a more than three-year low against the euro on speculation that the European Central Bank is preparing to reduce its stimulus. A weak dollar is providing ample strength to the commodities market, which saw a powerful start to the year.  

Given this, we have highlighted some ETFs that are off to a good start in 2018 and some that have had a rough start:

Best ETFs

Global X MSCI Nigeria ETF (NGE – Free Report)

Nigerian stocks are leading the global market rallyin the first two weeks ofthe New Year buoyed by a jump in oil prices and the continued strength in the economy, which pulled the country out of recession in the second quarter. Additionally, impressive valuations are making stocks tempting to investors. Nigerian stocks are the cheapest among the major African equity indexes trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.2 compared to 14 for the South African index and 13 for the MSCI Emerging Market Index.

As such, NGE, which offers exposure to the largest and most liquid Nigerian securities, soared 15.9% in the first two weeks of 2018. Holding 23 stocks in its basket, the fund has heavy concentration on the top two firms, which collectively make up for 25.4% share. It has accumulated $86.4 million in its asset base and has 1.10% in expense ratio. Average daily volume is lower at 23,000 shares. However, NGE has a Zacks ETF Rank #5 (Strong Sell) with a High risk outlook.