The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (NASDAQ:IBB) outperformed all other non-leveraged, non-inverse exchange traded products in the U.S. today on a dollar basis, producing a +0.83% one-day return and outperforming the wider markets by a total of 0.61 percentage points.
Behind The Gains
IBB closed today at $276.81 per share, up $2.29 (+0.83%). Putting this move in context, the S&P 500 index — largely considered the most popular and useful benchmark for equity performance — closed up $0.50 (+0.22%) on the day.
IBB’s trading volume today was a total of 1,170,440 shares, which was a decrease of 39% versus its average daily trading volume of 1,921,313. Rising trading volume generally an indicator of increased demand for a particular security, and is typically associated with a specific news event or trend that draws investors into or out of specific asset classes, or sectors or subsectors within those classes. IBB actually posted its gains today on subpar volume, which doesn’t bode well for any continued gains.
Including any dividends as well as today’s gains, IBB has now returned a total of 4.31% year-to-date, versus a 1.44% gain in the S&P 500 during the same timeframe.
A Look Under The Hood
iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index Fund is a Equity-focused product issued by BlackRock. Its expense ratio of 0.47% makes it the #19 cheapest ETF among 35 total funds in the Health & Biotech ETFs category.
IBB currently boasts $7.96B in assets under management (AUM), placing it #2 of 35 ETFs in its category, and #69 of 1920 total ETFs in the U.S. exchange traded universe.
The investment objective of the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of biotechnology and pharmaceutical equities listed on the NASDAQ.
IBB SMART Grade
IBB currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of B (Buy), and is ranked #15 of 36 funds in the Health & Biotech ETFs category.