Thursday's ETF Winners & Losers

ETFs tracking health care were the strongest performers Thursday, thanks to gains of 2% or more in Boston Scientific (BSX Quote), Medtronic (MDT Quote), Aetna (AET Quote) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH Quote).

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Medical Devices (IHI Quote) ETF was adding 1.1% $46.31, and the iShares S&P Global Healthcare Sector(IJX Quote) ETF was higher by 0.8% to $56.35. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare Provider (IHF Quote) ETF was recently adding 0.7% to $53.39, and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV Quote) was up 0.7% to $32.51.

Also among winners, ETFs related to oil rose as the price of crude reversed ground to the upside, recently adding 29 cents to $72.05 a barrel. The PowerShares Dynamic Energy Exploration(PXE Quote) ETF was gaining 1.2% to $19.42, the DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund(DBC Quote) was higher by 1% to $24.96, and the Energy Select Sector SPDR(XLE Quote) ETF was up 0.9% to $57.55.

ETFs tracking homebuilders were also higher, even after the Commerce Department said new-home sales fell 4.3% in July to 1.07 million annualized units, the lowest pace since February. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index was gaining 0.6%, with a majority of its components in positive territory.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction(ITB Quote) ETF was adding 31 cents, or 0.9%, $34.45. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate(IYR Quote) ETF was recently up 45 cents, or 0.6%, to $74.76.

Elsewhere, consumer stocks were the hardest-hit by news of slowing home sales, hurting the PowerShares Dynamic Retail(PMR Quote) ETF. Holding Nordstrom(JWN Quote) was dropping 3.6%, while Lowe's(LOW Quote) gave back 2.1%. The ETF was down 18 cents, or 1.1%, to $16.32.

The B2B Internet HOLDRs(BHH Quote) ETF was the day's worst performer, as Checkfree(CKFR Quote) lost 1.1%. The B2B Internet HOLDRs was down 7 cents, or 3.6%, to $1.89.

In addition, the iShares Silver Trust(SLV Quote) ETF was recently lower by $1.55, or 1.2%, to $123.45 as the price of silver slid.