The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index Fund (IBB) underperformed all other non-leveraged, non-inverse exchange traded products in the U.S. today on a percentage basis, producing a -0.84% one-day return and trailing the wider markets by a total of 0.47 percentage points.

Behind The Gains

IBB closed today at $274.48 per share, down $2.33 (-0.84%). Putting this move in context, the S&P 500 index — largely considered the most popular and useful benchmark for equity performance — closed down $-0.84 (-0.37%) on the day.

IBB’s trading volume today was a total of 680,288 shares, which was a decrease of 63% versus its average daily trading volume of 1,839,182. 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. In IBB’s case, volume was very low, which indicates falling interest in the product.

Including any dividends as well as today’s losses, IBB has now fallen a total of -3.43% year-to-date, versus a +1.06% gain in the S&P 500 during the same timeframe.

A Look Under The Hood

iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index Fund is an 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 $8.03B in assets under management (AUM), placing it #2 of 35 ETFs in its category, and #68 of 1920 total ETFs in the U.S. exchange traded universe. This biotech megafund still maintains a huge asset base despite big underperformance.

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. Its top holdings include a who’s who of major biotech and healthcare names, like Amgen, Celgene, Gilead, Biogen, and more. These stocks have been beaten up badly amid concerns of government intervention within the drug price market.

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. Despite its weak day, IBB is up 3.42% year-to-date, and biotech still appears to be bottoming.

For more information about this ETF, including full ratings, news, data, and more, please visit IBB’s ticker page.

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