Thursday's ETF Winners & Losers

HealthShares Emerging Cancer (HHJ Quote) was Thursday's best performer among exchange-traded funds, as positive headlines out of holding Dendreon (DNDN Quote) boosted the ETF by more than 4%.

Dendreon jumped 43% after the biotech company said the Food and Drug Administration provided confirmation it will accept either a positive interim or final analysis of survival in order to approve the prostate cancer vaccine, Provenge.

The HealthShares Emerging Cancer ETF was recently up 96 cents, or 4.1%, to $24.49.

ETFs tracking silver and gold were also among the best performers. Silver futures surged by 29 cents to $13.51 an ounce. Gold futures were adding $5.80 to $665.10 an ounce.

The PowerShares DB Silver (DBS Quote) ETF was climbing 61 cents, or 2.6%, to $26.49. The iShares Silver Trust (SLV Quote) was up $2.60, or 2.3%, to $133.61. The streetTRACKS Gold Shares (GDX Quote) rose 67 cents, or 1.7%, to $38.66.

The Internet Infrastructure HOLDRs (IIH Quote) was also rising. Among its holdings, BEA Systems (BEAS Quote) was rising 2.1%, and Akamai Technologies (AKAM Quote) was up 3.9%.

The Internet Infrastructure HOLDRs ETF was recently adding 10 cents, or 1.7%, to $5.41.

Housing-related ETFs were among few losers Thursday. Among housing concerns, Toll Brothers (TOL Quote) fell 2.1%, KB Home (KBH Quote) was shedding 1.8%, Standard Pacific (SPF Quote) was losing 1.6% and Hovnanian (HOV Quote) was lower by 1%.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction(ITB Quote) ETF was recently falling by 29 cents, or 0.8%, at $37.16. The SPDR Homebuilders (XHB Quote) ETF was down 13 cents, or 0.5%, to $35.57.