Another biotech ETF to consider this month is the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEArca: XBI). Although XBI is an equal-weight ETF that allocates no more than 2.5% of its weight to any of its 84 holdings, the fund has proven on multiple occasions this year that a huge day for just one of its holdings can translate into a big day for the ETF.
Just look at how XBI surged in July when Puma Biotechnology (NYSE: PBYI) said its experimental breast cancer treatment, neratinib, proved successful in a Phase III trial, how the fund soared in June on news of Merck’s (NYSE: MRK) of purchase of Idenix Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS: IDIX) and how XBI thrilled investors in January, surging more than 7% in one day after shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM: ICPT) nearly quadrupled after trials for the company’s liver disease treatment proved successful. [Intercept Lifts This Biotech ETF]
XBI is up nearly 38% this year, making it the second-best biotech and sector ETF overall behind FBT.
SPDR S&P Biotech ETF
