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Ride Out the Coronavirus Mayhem With These ETF Areas

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The coronavirus outbreak has infected more than 2.6 million globally, with above 183,000 casualties, per Johns Hopkins University data. The United States alone has recorded a death toll of more than 46,000. The outbreak has caused an unprecedented collapse of economic activities, as governments are forced to shut down commerce and take social distancing measures in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. Around 90% of Americans have been put under lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to spike.

Against this backdrop, let’s look at some ETF areas that can help you sail smoothly through this crisis:

Biotech ETFs

The race to introduce vaccine and treatment for coronavirus is opening up opportunities, making the biotech sector a prospective space for investments. From positive news related to Gilead Sciences’ (GILD - Free Report) remdesivir to progress in development of cell therapies for the treatment of COVID-19, these developments have kept the sector surging. Notably, the most popular ETF in the biotech space, iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB - Free Report) , has gained 14.7% so far in April (as of Apr 22). Other ETFs with considerable exposure to the biotech space are SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI - Free Report) , First Trust Amex Biotechnology Index (FBT - Free Report) , ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG - Free Report) and VanEck Vectors Biotech ETF (BBH - Free Report) .

Online Retail ETFs

In the current scenario, consumers are opting for online purchases of food items and other goods. In fact, non-store retail sales in March increased 3.1% sequentially and 9.7% year over year. This is driving orders for online retailers like Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) and others. Backed by surging stay-at-home mandates, Amazon, one of the largest e-commerce providers, has been seeing a flurry of new home delivery orders. In such a scenario, Global X E-commerce ETF EBIZ, Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY - Free Report) , ProShares Long Online/Short Stores ETF (CLIX - Free Report) and ProShares Online Retail ETF ONLN make attractive investment options.

Cloud Computing ETFs

In the current scenario of work remotely, cloud computing is emerging as a key technology in the fight against coronavirus. Cloud computing and storage have empowered video conferencing, gaming, e-commerce shopping, remote project collaboration, online classes, editing, etc. It is supporting organizations in remotely processing a lot of information, developing and running key applications and services, and also helping employees across the world collaborate while working. Investors can look at the following ETFs that can gain from the current trend -- First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY - Free Report) , Global X Cloud Computing ETF (CLOU) and WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF WCLD (read: ETFs to Gain on Cloud Computing Growth Amid Coronavirus Crisis).

Robotics ETFs

The robotics market is flooded with opportunities as robots are being used for jobs such as sanitizing hospitals, homes and workplaces along with monitoring, surveying, handling, and delivering food and medicines. Against this background, we have shortlisted the following ETFs for our investors to consider: Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ - Free Report) , ROBO Global Robotics & Automation ETF ROBOFirst Trust Nasdaq Artificial Intelligence and Robotics ETF ROBT and iShares Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Multisector ETF IRBO.

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