4 Country ETFs Beating the S&P 500 in Q3
As the third-quarter draws to a close, Wall Street and global markets, must be interested in knowing which investing areas won in the third quarter. The quarter has been downbeat for the stock market due to rising rate worries made up by the continued AI frenzy to some extent. The S&P 500 is off 0.7% in the past three months (as of Sep 22, 2023). All-word ETF iShares MSCI ACWI ETF ACWI has lost 1.7% in the last three months.
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few top-performing country ETFs of the third-quarter.
Turkey
iShares MSCI Turkey ETF (TUR) – Up 33.4% in the Past Three Months
Turkey's central bank made headlines in Q3 with an unexpected interest rate hike to 30%, marking a significant jump. The rate hike is a clear indication that Turkey is committed to curbing inflation through proactive monetary policy measures.
Liam Peach, a senior economist specializing in emerging markets at Capital Economics, highlighted the significance of the recent rate hike in reassuring investors about Turkey's economic trajectory, as quoted on CNBC. Peach noted that this move indicates a return to policy orthodoxy and could instill greater confidence in the markets (read: Time to Buy Turkey ETF on Surprise Rate Hike?).
Vietnam
VanEck Vietnam ETF VNM – Up 10.1%
Global X MSCI Vietnam ETF VNAM – Up 8.7%
Vietnam's gross domestic product expanded 4.14% year over year in Q2 of 2023, faster than a marginally revised 3.28% growth in Q1 and pointing to the seventh successive period of expansion. A recovery in the country’s equity market and four policy rate cuts by the central bank this year have boosted retail demand for share trading.
India
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF SMIN – Up 8.4%
VanEck India Growth Leaders ETF GLIN – Up 7.8%
India has become an investment hotspot in the third quarter. Untapped potential, considerably high growth and global companies’ interest in setting up manufacturing base in India have boosted the country’s equities. China-US geopolitical tensions also veered West’s attention to India – one of the largest Asian emerging markets. If these were not enough, India successfully hosted the G-20 summit in September, showcasing the Indian government's efforts to assume a leading role in global affairs as the West aims to counterbalance China's rising influence (read: Forget China. India ETFs Are Hot Now).
Japan
WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF DXJ – Up 7.9%
First Trust Japan AlphaDEX ETF FJP – Up 7.1%
Japan ETFs have stayed steady in the recent past. A shift-away from deflation, a still-easy monetary policy and policy easing in China (which is a major trading partner of Japan) led to the equity rally. Notably, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has raised its median forecast for inflation to 2.5% for fiscal 2023 in late-July, up from the previous prediction of 1.8% in April. BoJ also took a significant step recently by allowing long-term interest rates to rise (read: Inside the Recent Rally of Japan ETFs).
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WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF (DXJ): ETF Research Reports
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI): ETF Research Reports
iShares MSCI Turkey ETF (TUR): ETF Research Reports
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF (SMIN): ETF Research Reports
VanEck Vietnam ETF (VNM): ETF Research Reports
First Trust Japan AlphaDEX ETF (FJP): ETF Research Reports
VanEck India Growth Leaders ETF (GLIN): ETF Research Reports
Global X MSCI Vietnam ETF (VNAM): ETF Research Reports
