India has the world's second-largest population¹ and one of the best long-term economic growth rates of all emerging market countries.² India also has an educated workforce and seems to embrace all forms of technology-with, notably, about twice as many cell phone subscribers as there are people in the United States.

But with India being one of the so-called BRIC countries, we have to ask: Are investors potentially under-allocating? We believe they are.

Our Assets-Under-Management (AUM) Figures

We have reviewed all the listed ETFs in U.S. exchanges to determine ETFs focused on tracking the performance of equity market indexes specific to single emerging market countries. Throughout this piece, we'll reference AUM in the following format: ("EM Country" AUM) for clarity, and this represents the total assets in U.S. exchange-listed ETFs tracking equity indexes of that country (data source: Bloomberg, as of March 31, 2013). We also

By Tassos Stassopoulos

Evolving trends in emerging markets are not always driven by macro-economic policies or demographics. Sometimes, something as simple as a fridge can change millions of people’s lives and re-define an entire industry.

This is exactly what’s happening in India’s milk market. The world’s second most-populous nation is also the world’s largest market for milk, yet less than 20% of households own a fridge. The popularity of the white stuff in India, combined with the proliferation of refrigerators from a very low base, are perfect conditions for a milk boom, driven by the unique consumer situation in this market. These trends are not always easy to spot by doing desk research or just analyzing other markets. But based on our field research, we forecast huge changes for the dairy industry, suppliers and even economic efficiency, as new consumer trends in India accelerate.

Today, the Indian market for milk

The weekly Indian ETF chart shows that for the last year, prices have been trading in a range between roughly 47.5 and 62.5 -- a range of about 30%. Most importantly, the rally chart started last May has been broken; prices are slow below the 200-week EMA on declining momentum and lowering participation.

(click to enlarge)

On the daily chart, we see that prices have recently been trading between the 56 and 62.5 level. However, technically we see a declining MACD and weakening CMF. Also note that prices are just below the 200-day EMA on this chart as well.

(click to enlarge)

I've been bearish on India this year (see here, here and here). Overall, we see some fairly entrenched problems such as extreme policy uncertainly, inflation, lowered growth, and large budgetary and current account deficits. The latest Markit Manufacturing report is good, but there are underlying

Below is an updated look at where the S&P 500 and its ten sectors currently stand within their normal trading ranges. In the table below, the red shading represents overbought territory, while the green shading represents oversold territory. The black vertical "N" line represents each sector's 50-day moving average.

As shown, the S&P 500 and six of ten sectors remain in overbought territory, with Consumer Staples the most overbought. Nine of ten sectors are above their 50-day moving averages. The Materials sector has moved solidly below its 50-day with today's declines.

Interestingly, while

Introduction

I had earlier written about the rising risks of investing in the Indian markets. Most market analysts have ignored the problems due to the social and economic issues as well as the increasing corruption. One of the major risks I had cited was the elections that are due to be held in 2014. It seems that some of those risks are now coming true. A crucial government ally has abandoned support leaving the ruling Congress party to depend on the fickle outside support from two Uttar Pradesh based regional parties. What has made the ruling coalition shakier is that these parties - SP and BSP - are strongly opposed to each other. The stock market has fallen sharply due to this unexpected development despite a 25 bps cut in the interest rate by the Indian central bank. I think that investing in Indian markets through ETFs will

India is home to more than a billion people with a burgeoning middle class, and is expecting economic growth of more than 6% for the next couple of years. Like other emerging markets that have grown rapidly in the last decade, India needs lots of fuel to pump its economy, but big oil has largely shied away from making significant investments in the country. However, in February, two of the leading European oil firms announced their Indian investment plans worth billions of dollars.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), has decided to invest around $1 billion to develop a floating liquefied natural gas terminal off the coast of Kakinada in the state of Andhra Pradesh as early as 2014 through a joint venture with the Indian billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Power, India's biggest private sector power generation firm. Shell currently has an LNG import

By Laura Papi, Assistant Director, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF and Rahul Anand, Economist, Asia Pacific Department.

So far 2013 has been a breath of fresh air in terms of economic news: financial markets have rallied and economic indicators have started to surprise on the upside. In India, the rupee has strengthened and the Bombay Stock Exchange index (Sensex) crossed the 20,000 mark for the first time in two years. Industrial production has started picking up.

So is India’s growth about to go back to 8-9 percent? The short answer is no. But we need to look back to understand why India’s growth has decelerated to a decade low and why the slump, which has hit investment particularly hard, has persisted for over a year. As structural problems are at the root of the slowdown, so structural reforms must be at the core of the solution.

In the IMF’s

Economist Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the term "BRICs" in November 2001 to identify the core set of emerging markets at that time. These countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, and China -- did not have many things in common other than all being emerging countries. For example, in terms of political systems, Brazil and India follow democracy, China follows communism with a capitalist economic system, and Russia is not yet democratic, though it claims to be a democracy. Similarly, Brazil and Russia are rich in many natural resources, while China and India have limited natural resources and import most of the commodities needed for growth. Population-wise, China and India have two of the world's largest populations, while Brazil and Russia's population is relatively small.

Despite all the differences between these countries, the BRIC markets took off from 2001. From an article in the FT beyondbrics blog:

In

By: The ETF Professor , Benzinga Staff Writer

The WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (EPI) and the PowerShares India Portfolio (PIN) are among the marquee India funds trading higher Tuesday after Asia's third-largest economy announced an interest rate cut. EPI and PIN are each higher by about half a percent on the news.

Overnight, the The Reserve Bank of India pared its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.75 percent. The move, though widely expected, is RBI's first rate cut in nine months. In a surprise move, RBI also pared the cash reserve ratio, or the amount of deposits Indian banks must keep with the central bank, by 25 basis points to four percent.

That could pump an added $3.3 billion into the Indian banking system, Reuters reported.

This is the second time RBI has lowered the cash reserve ratio since the third quarter of 2012

On December 20th, we noted that "the world is overbought" by posting our trading range screen for 30 country ETFs. At that time, while the rest of the world's markets were surging, the US market was struggling due to the Fiscal Cliff issue. Now that the US has moved into overbought territory, where does the

Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram released a statement the other day indicating the government's deliberation of an additional hike to taxes on gold imports. Given that India has been the world's largest gold consumer for quite some time (although China is close to usurping that title), any policy measures aimed at crimping gold demand in the country warrant consideration. Policymakers bemoan gold's role in India's record high current account deficit. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) published data indicating that the nation's current account deficit for the third quarter of 2012 reached an all-time high of $22.3 billion - a figure that represents 5.4% of India's gross domestic product.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) describes the current account as:

the difference between the value of exports of goods and services and the value of imports of goods and services. A deficit then means that the country

The careful selection of different Indian stock funds allows investors to enter the Indian market at a steep discount to US price multiples, even though the Indian market as a whole is trading at higher multiples than the S&P 500. Combining these low stock valuations with a cheap currency creates a bargain buying opportunity for value investors.

Why India?

India's cheap currency makes assets denominated in its currency cheap. Moreover, it scores better than Russia and China (The R and C in BRIC) for investor freedom. I will walk you through how I came to these conclusions.

To examine the investment prospects of different foreign markets, different markets were screened for discounts to Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) of their currencies versus the dollar. India currently has one of the cheapest currencies according to PPP, which is trading near a 60% discount to parity. From a top-down perspective, this is

By Patricia Oey

The Indian stock market is notoriously volatile, and investors considering any India exposure should have a very high risk tolerance. Indian stocks (as measured by the MSCI India Index in U.S. dollars) were among the best performing in the world in 2010, the worst performing in 2011, and are on track to once again be among the best in 2012. This volatility can be partially explained by India's heavy dependence on foreign fund flows for investment and growth. When markets are in a "risk-off" mood, foreign funds quickly flow out of Indian equities, which tend to have low floats, and this stokes further volatility. In addition, foreign fund flows, combined with India's current account deficit, also drive volatility in the Indian rupee and, therefore, in Indian stock funds that do not hedge their foreign-currency exposure.

Despite being up 20%-plus on a year-to-date basis, the MSCI India Index

Shares of the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (EPI), the largest India ETF by assets, traded higher by 1.1 percent Tuesday after Moody's Investors Service reiterated a stable outlook on India's sovereign debt rating. Moody's also affirmed a Baa3 credit rating for India, which is one notch above non-investment grade status.

The news from Moody's could not come at a better time for India. Already home to the worst credit rating of the four BRIC nations, India is fighting to keep its investment-grade rating. The loss of that rating would lead to not only higher borrowing costs, but a probable plunge in major India ETFs such as EPI and the PowerShares India Portfolio (PIN).

The PowerShares India Portfolio and the iShares S&P India Nifty 50 Index Fund (INDY) are also trading higher on the Moody's news. PIN is up nearly 0.9 percent while INDY has gained 0.7 percent on volume

The U.S. dollar managed to extend yesterday's (Tuesday) recovery against most of the major currencies, but a consolidation tone has emerged. Narrow ranges continue to dominate.

We suggested here yesterday that the euro could pullback to the $1.2880-$1.2910. The euro tested $1.29 in late in the London morning. Similarly sterling tested the $1.60 level, and below that we identified potential toward $1.5950-60.

Part of what is happening is a bout of profit-taking on yen crosses. The yen is the strongest currency today, gaining about 0.33% against the greenback and about 0.66% against the euro, which is the weakest of the majors.

Global equity markets are mostly marginally lower, also consolidating last week's gains. There are two notable exceptions to this generalization. First, India's Sensex rose 1.6%, the biggest gain in two months as Moody's squashed speculation of a pending downgrade with a reiteration of its stable outlook. Some