Japan: Weekly ETF and CEF Performance

Last week was not pretty by any means, as all 10 Japan funds trading on U.S. exchanges posted a weekly loss. Blame it on Golden Week, since there's been subdued trading and bullish sentiment given a three-day weekend last week and a four-day weekend this week.

In fact, the Nikkei 225 has been struggling in general, in addition to the Golden Week holiday impact, as it closed at 17,400 last Friday, or still some 900 points (~5%) off its intra-day multi-year high set on 2/26 and over 800 points off its close (also a multi-year high) the same day. See the chart below (as of 4/27 close).

The 10 Japanese ETFs (including 2 CEFs) trading in the U.S. lost a combined average 1.7% last week. For the year, they are still up, but only by 0.9%. See the thumbnail chart image to the right (click to enlarge) for returns two weeks ago.

Here's their combined average return over the past several weeks:

04/13 - 04/20: 0.6%
04/05 - 04/13: -0.9%
03/30 - 04/05: +0.7%
03/23 - 03/30: -2.1%
03/16 - 03/23: 3.1%
03/09 - 03/16: -1.9%
03/02 - 03/09: +2.0%
02/23 - 03/02: -4.8%

See the chart below for more details on last week's performance.

Click to enlarge chart

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

WisdomTree's Japan SmallCap Dividend (DFJ) fund turned in the best weekly performance, although down 0.7%. Year-to-date it is among the top-3 Japan funds up 2.6%. This is impressive considering broad weakness among smaller cap stocks.

iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ), the most actively traded country-based ETF, lost 1.7% last week, but is still up 1.3% on the year. Not much excitement and nothing like the run in '05 that is beginning to feel like ages ago.

The Japan Smaller Cap Fund (JOF), a closed-end fund, has often been among the worst weekly performers. It lost 2.5% last week and is down 6.6% on the year. According to Morningstar.com, it is trading at an 8.8% premium as of Monday's $12.08 close.

For your reference, here's a list of the 10 funds:

iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ)
iShares S&P/TOPIX 150 (ITF)
Japan Equity Fund, Inc. (JEQ)
Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund, Inc. (JOF)
SPDR Russell/Nomura Prime Japan (JPP)
SPDR Russell/Nomura SmallCap Japan (JSC)
Vanguard Pacific Stock (VPL)
WisdomTree JP High-Yielding Equity (DNL)
WisdomTree JP SmallCap Dividend (DFJ)
WisdomTree JP Total Dividend (DXJ)