Most Americans probably don't know that the one of the most
important celebrations for the Hindu faith and in Indian culture
rolls around later this month, that being Akshaya Tritiya.
Akshaya means eternal or that which never diminishes and it is
widely believed that new ventures that are started on Akshaya
Tritiya bring good fortune.
Akshaya Tritiya also coincides with Indian wedding season
being in full bloom and those two factors combined lend efficacy
to once again examining Indian investment opportunities. On a
year-to-date basis, India-specific ETFs
particularly the small-cap funds
are sporting some tidy gains, but the past month has been a
different story.
The Market Vectors India Small-Cap ETF (NYSE:
SCIF
) was the second-best performing U.S.-listed in the first
quarter, but that fund is down 7.4% in the past month and is off
almost 3% today. The WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (NYSE:
EPI
) has shed 7% in the past month and is being slammed to the tune
of 3.5% on Friday.
Maybe Akshaya Tritiya is just the relief ETFs with deep ties
to India need to get back in the swing of things. Consider the
following.
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:
GLD
)
A big part of the reason that ETFs backed by physical gold have
struggled in recent weeks is because the Indian government said
last month it would double taxes on imported gold and tax most
gold jewelry. That led to a three-week strike by Indian jewelers
and fears of these tax proposals sent chills down the backs of
gold bugs because India is the world's largest gold consumer.
The strike has ended as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has
said he will consider scuttling the new tax proposals. GLD and
the rival iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:
IAU
) are worth a look now because Indian wedding season and Akshaya
Tritiya typically result in increased demand for the yellow metal
in India. After all, it's believed that gold purchased and worn
on Akshaya Tritiya brings good luck.
EGShares India Consumer ETF (NYSE:
INCO
)
INCO continues to be an unheralded, almost ignored ETF as no
shares have changed hands in the fund yet today. That means a lot
of traders and investors are ignoring one of the best ETFs for
the
emerging market consumer investment theme
.
About 36% of INCO's weight goes to personal products makers
and that's a decent play on Akshaya Tritiya and Indian wedding
season right there, but the ETF also features a combined
allocation of almost 27% to food, beverage, tobacco, travel and
leisure goods companies, validating INCO as the preeminent play
on the Indian consumer.
EGShares India Infrastructure ETF (NYSE:
INXX
)
The EGShares India Infrastructure ETF is one of the prime
examples of an India-specific ETF that started 2012 on fire, but
has cooled considerably, falling 7.4% in the past month. After
being turned back by resistance at $17, INXX has proceeded to
violate support at $15, highlighting some near-term technical
issues.
All of that said, INXX could be worth a look, and we're not
kidding, because Akshaya Tritiya is believed to be the ideal time
to commence new business and infrastructure ventures because of
the good fortune associated with the celebration.
To read more about India-specific ETFs, please click
HERE
.
(c) 2012 Benzinga.com. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published in its entirety or redistributed without
the approval of Benzinga.