Another week and month are in the books for U.S. stocks with February being kind to the bull. February was a strong month for U.S. stocks as the S&P 500 bounced back from a glum January to gain 6.7% in the second month of the year.
While February was a bounce back month for stocks, it did not bring a deviation in trend among highly searched exchange traded funds. One could say this week’s most searched tickers on ETF Trends reads like a list of the usual suspects.
Of the 10 most searched ETFs on ETF Trends this week, only two were not dividend or health care funds. Those outliers are the PureFunds ISE Junior Silver Small Cap Miners/Explorers ETF (NYSEArca: SILJ) and the PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ). Both appearances are understandable, particularly QQQ’s with all the chatter about the Nasdq Composite possibly returning to its pre-tech bubble highs. [Nasdaq 5,000 a Possibility]
Two of the five most searched ETFs this week were biotech funds (what else is new?) with the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEArca: XBI) ranking as the most searched ETF overall. The First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSEArca: FBT) placed fifth after soaring Tuesday on the back of favorable news from InterMune (NasdaqGS: ITMN). [Get to Know Your Biotech ETF’s Holdings]
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV) and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NasdaqGM: IBB) remained staples in our weekly most searched recaps.