SPDR Health Care Select Sector (XLV - News) has been showing signs of an uptrend as companies within the index have dividend yields and decent valuations. The pending Supreme Court healthcare reform decision will eventually steer the healthcare sector.

Year to date through May 18, XLV was u 4.6%. This was near the 4.3% increase in the health care sector of the S&P 500 index, and ahead of the 3.0% gain for the S&P 500 Index. Interestingly, six of the 10 sub-industries in the sector were ahead of the broader benchmarks return, led by Healthcare supplies and Biotechnology, but this was partially offset by the larger Pharmaceuticals sub-industry, which was up only 0.9%, Todd Rosenbluth, S&P Capital IQ ETF Analyst wrote in a recent MarketScope Advisor note. [Checking up on Health Care ETFs]

The ETF XLV has stakes in some of the biggest names in health care: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Abbot Laboratories and Merck. About half of the portfolio is dedicated to pharmaceuticals, followed by Healthcare equipment and Biotechnology. [Healthcare ETFs Look to Supreme Court Ruling]

Going forward, a decision to uphold the Healthcare reform law, or to vacate all or part of the law is due in mid-June of this year. Jeff Loo, head of Healthcare equity research for S&P Capital IQ, says there are three potential scenarios that would materialize from a decision: [Defensive ETFs for a Market Pullback]

Rosenbluth reports that the sector ETF is positioned to fare well if either scenario 1 or 2 plays out. The strength of the companies that the fund holds will keep performance steady, while the dividend yield is another plus. The fund yields 2.5%.

SPDR Health Care Select Sector

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Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.

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