Wednesday's ETF Winners & Losers

Exchange-traded funds tracking the chip sector were among the best performers of Wednesday's session, even as the major markets were struggling to find direction.

Among individual semiconductor names, Texas Instruments(TXN Quote) was adding 4.3%, National Semiconductor (NSM Quote) gained 1.9%, Altera (ALTR Quote) tacked on 1.3%, and Applied Materials (AMAT Quote) was higher by nearly 1%.

The Ultra Semiconductor ProShares (USD Quote) ETF was recently up $1.88, or 2.3%, to $82.42. The Semiconductor HOLDRs (SMH Quote) ETF was climbing 66 cents, or 1.8%, to $37.94. The iShares Goldman Sachs Semiconductor (IGW Quote) ETF was higher by 67 cents, or 1%, at $65.90. The PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors (PSI Quote) ETF added 18 cents, or 0.9%, to $19.59.

The B2B Internet HOLDRs (BHH Quote) ETF was also among winners of the day, as holding Ariba (ARBA Quote) added 1.8%. The ETF was up 3 cents, or 1.4%, to $2.11.

On the flip side, the HealthShares Emerging Cancer (HHJ Quote) was one of the day's biggest losers. Shares of Dendreon (DNDN Quote) plummeted 60% after the Food and Drug Administration said it required more test data for the company's Provenge drug.

The ETF was recently down $2.72, or 10.4%, to $23.34.