Popular health-care ETF finishes at an all-time high as stock market rallies

A popular exchange-traded fund that tracks the health-care sector finished at its highest level in its history on Friday. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF












XLV, +0.48%










advanced by 0.4% to reach 91.82, representing its highest level since the vehicle was created in 1998 to match the S&P 500 index’s












SPX, +0.62%










health-care sector. The record for the health-care ETF underscores a rally on Wall Street in late August that has the small-capitalization Russell 2000 index












RUT, +0.50%










the Nasdaq Composite Index












COMP, +0.86%










and the S&P 500 putting records of their own. Friday’s moves for the XLV were aided by a 2.2% advance in shares of Mylan NV












MYL, +2.19%










and a 1.5% rise in Illumina Inc.












ILMN, +1.45%










Over the past year, shares of Abiomed Inc.












ABMD, +1.09%










and Align Technology Inc.












ALGN, +1.10%










have led gainers, rising 103% and 65%, respectively. The XLV represents some 63 constituents of the S&P 500’s health-care sector, with components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average












DJIA, +0.52%










Johnson & Johnson












JNJ, +0.62%










and UnitedHealth Group Inc.,












UNH, +1.09%










representing the largest weighted components in the ETF.

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