Wednesday, March 26, 2014

India ETF Breaks Through Resistance


The Indian ETF above had been hitting resistance in the upper 56-upper 57 region since 4Q of 2013.  However, prices have now moved through that level and are advancing higher.  The reason is hope the new government will be more business friendly:

On Wednesday, India’s two benchmark stock indexes, the Sensex and the Nifty, each rallied to their third new high this week. The foreign funds coming in to buy Indian stocks have shored up the rupee, which has risen nearly 14 percent as of Tuesday since hitting the record low.

India’s economy remains stagnant, but much of what is driving investor optimism is the rising expectation that the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party will replace the government, led by the Indian National Congress. A B.J.P. victory would be expected to install Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, as the new prime minister, and in a country that has a reputation of being difficult to do business in, Mr. Modi has welcomed foreign investment in his home state.

In February, a survey by the Pew Research Center showed that 63 percent of Indians polled would prefer the B.J.P. to form the next government, compared with 19 percent who picked the Congress party.

‘‘Expectations are very high that Mr. Modi will lead the new government in India, and investors are viewing that as quite a game-changing event for India going forward because of his economic track record in Gujarat,’’ said Sam Mahtani, a director of emerging market equities at F&C Investments in London, which invests $3.3 billion in emerging markets, about 10 percent of which is in India. ‘‘He is viewed as a very pro-reform leader, and that is effectively what the market is anticipating and wants.’’