The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was outperforming the broader market all year. Emphasis on past tense, because as of Tuesday, that’s no longer true.
A steep October selloff triggered by mediocre earnings reports has persisted into November. The IBB is market-cap weighted, so notable laggards Celgene (CELG), Alexion Pharma (ALXN), Regeneron Pharma (REGN) and Incyte (INCY) exert an oversized drag on performance. The IBB is now returning just a touch under 15 percent for the year. That’s still good, albeit slightly underperforming the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500.
The view from the equal-weighted SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) remains more upbeat. The year-to-date return has slipped, but at 35 percent, remains more than double the SPY.
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