Exchange-traded funds that track the insurance sector rallied on Monday, after Hurricane Irma hit Florida with less force than expected. The SPDR S&P Insurance ETF gained 2.4% while the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF added 2.1%. The PowerShares KBW Property & Casualty Insurance Portfolio jumped 3.7% in its biggest one-day percentage gain since November 2011. Earlier in the session, it rose more than 5%, returning the fund to positive territory for the year. Among the ETF’s biggest gainers, Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. surged 12% while Validus Holdings Ltd. was up 7.5% and Maiden Holdings Ltd. was up 7.1%. Irma was downgraded to a Category 1 storm early Monday after tearing a destructive path across South Florida on Sunday. The hurricane, due to be downgraded to a tropical storm, is expected to hit Tampa and Orlando early Monday and Tallahassee later in the afternoon. Irma has left at least 4 million residents without power, fewer than had been expected. Verisk Analytics Inc.’s catastrophe modeling business AIR Worldwide estimates insured losses resulting from Hurricane Irma will be in the range of $20 billion to $40 billion. That compares with AIR Worldwide’s estimate of property damage resulting from Hurricane Harvey of more than $65 billion.
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