iShares Asia Region ETFs Weekly and YTD Returns

The iShares Asia region country-based ETFs posted mixed results last week, but for the first half of 2007 all of them except Japan have outperformed the S&P 500 and all but two (Japan and Hong Kong) are up double-digits.

iShares MSCI Malaysia (EWM), the year-to-date return leader, fell 2.0%, the biggest loss among funds surveyed, falling slightly under +30% year-to-date at 29.7%.

The iPath ETN MSCI India (INP) index fund and the iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA) paced advancers, +1.0%, among the funds surveyed. INP increased its ytd return to 15.0%, as the EAFE is now up more than 10% (10.3%).

iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (FXI), which had led all advancers in the two weeks prior, ended slightly higher, +0.2%, taking its ytd return to 15.6%.

iShares Taiwan (EWT) rose 0.7%, increasing its return for the year above 10% to 10.3%. On Monday, MarketWatch reported Citigroup upgraded Taiwanese stocks to "overweight" from "underweight" based on their valuations. Citigroup strategist Markus Rosgen is quoted from his research report saying:

Foreign investors have Taiwan as their single biggest underweight, sentiment is in the doldrums, and relative to the region, valuations are as cheap as they've ever been.

Taiwan is the mirror opposite of Singapore. No momentum but value.

Meanwhile, Citigroup downgraded Singapore to "underweight" from "overweight" in its model portfolio. Rosgen commented Singapore is expensive both on an asset and cash-flow basis.

Rosgen acknowledges the consensus favors the opposite stance he has taken. However, he says, "Since 1995, it has always paid to go against the consensus asset allocation. We believe this will be the case this year."

iShares Singapore (EWS) lost 1.6% last week, but is still up 21.8% for the year.

iShares Japan (EWJ) has been struggling as the yen trades near multi-year lows against many currencies. However, the yen traded higher against the dollar last week, helping EWJ gain 0.6% to take its ytd return to 2.1% -- the lowest among the funds surveyed.

iShares S. Korea (EWY), fell for the second-straight week, although it was only down 0.3%, lowering its ytd return to 22.1%.

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].

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.

Further reading: Hong Kong ETF Celebrating Ten Year Anniversary of China Rule • South Korea to Benefit From Capital Markets Deregulation Act • Malaysia ETF Enjoying A Vigorous Growth Spurt

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)