Asia Region ETFs Mixed Last Week

by: Steven Towns posted on: December 24, 2007 | about stocks: EFA / EPP / EWA / EWH / EWJ / EWM / EWS / EWT / EWY / FXI / INP

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iShares Asia region country-based ETFs were mixed last week and could have turned in a much worse performance if not for the boost from Friday's broad market rally. iPath ETN MSCI India (INP) fell for a second-week, losing as much as 17% intra-week, although it continues to be the best year-to-date performer among the funds surveyed. iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (FXI) and iShares MSCI Hong Kong (EWH) led advancers.

iPath ETN India lost more than 10% on profit-taking last week in heavier-than-average trading. The BSE Sensex 30 benchmark plunged last Monday, but losses were limited to around 5%. Nevertheless, INP is still up over 75% for the year.

iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 gained nearly 4%, while Hong Kong rose 3.5%. They are the second and third-best performers ytd, +60% and 40.5%, respectively. The People's Bank of China hiked its benchmark lending and deposit rates for a sixth time (full story), but the news was actually welcomed and helped extend rallies in Shanghai and Hong Kong (market summary).

Monday (12/24) Asian Market Summary: Hong Kong, China, Australia Post Strong Pre-Holiday Gains Monday

See the chart below for last week's results. There are two sets of returns for each ETF: the past week [light blue] and year-to-date [purple].

Note, the bars for the iShares S&P 500 index (IVV) are colored differently for comparative purposes.

Click to enlarge chart

Disclosure: The author does not own shares of any funds mentioned in this article.

Here is a list of the relevant ETFs and their tickers.

iShares Australia (EWA)
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (FXI)
iShares Hong Kong (EWH)
iPath ETN MSCI India (INP)
iShares Japan (EWJ)
iShares Malaysia (EWM)
iShares Singapore (EWS)
iShares S. Korea (EWY)
iShares Taiwan (EWT)
iShares EAFE (EFA)
iShares Pacific ex-Japan (EPP)
iShares S&P 500 (IVV)