Health Care Sector
XLV · Market Index
Last updated 1:01:57 PM ET
Overview
Health Care Sector (XLV) is a market index tracked. It last traded at 173.26, up 0.98% over the past 24 hours. Trading volume came in at 5,933,824.
- Ticker
- XLV
- Type
- Market Index
Historical Chart
Health Care Sector price chart, 1M range. Current price 173.26. Up 0.98% over the selected range.
Health Care Sector (XLV) Current Valuation & Key Statistics
Technical Indicators
Not available for this asset type.
What Is Health Care Sector?
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) holds the health care companies within the S&P 500, spanning pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotechnology firms, health insurers, medical-device makers, and health care providers and services companies.
Health care is traditionally considered a more defensive sector than technology or consumer discretionary, since demand for medical care tends to hold up better during economic downturns than demand for discretionary goods — XLV has historically shown somewhat lower volatility than broad-market or tech-heavy funds as a result, though individual sub-industries within it (biotech in particular) can be highly volatile around clinical-trial and regulatory news.
How Health Care Sector Is Priced
Health Care Sector is a market index, not a single tradable security — its value is a weighted average of the prices of the companies or assets it tracks, recalculated continuously as those underlying prices move. Investors can't buy the index directly; exposure typically comes through index funds, ETFs, or futures contracts designed to track it. Because it aggregates many holdings, an index's day-to-day move reflects the combined performance of its constituents rather than any single company's news.