The healthcare sector exchange traded funds have been leading the broader markets and experienced a decent bump after the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, and the space could continue to outperform.
Year-to-date, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV) gained 12.0%, iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (NYSEArca: IYH) rose 12.9%, Vanguard Health Care ETF (NYSEArca: VHT) increased 13.6% and Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF (NYSEArca: FHLC) advanced 13.5%. In contrast, the S&P 500 index was up 3.1% so far this year.
“We continue to believe that this health-care trend and outperformance will continue,” Piper Jaffray analyst Craig Johnson said on CNBC.
Medical equipment and hospital stocks recently experienced a decent spike after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Affordable Care Act. With the Obamacare subsidies intact, the sector will continue to benefit from a growing client base. [Emergency Room ETF Likes Supreme Court Ruling on Obamacare]
Year-to-date, the iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF (NYSEArca: IHF) surged 23.1% and SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF (NYSEArca: XHS) jumped 18.5%. Meanwhile, the iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (NYSEArca: IHI) increased 7.9% and the SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF (NYSEArca: XHE) rose 10.6%. [Healthcare ETFs: More Americans Are Visiting the Doctor’s Office]
Looking at IHF, Johnson pointed out that “the chart is continuing to make higher highs, higher lows, we’re above our 40-week moving average, above the uptrend support line—we’re not seeing any sign of a trend change happening yet.”
Consequently, Johnson remains long on the sector and on IHF.