Singapore’s strong economy has resulted in a strong stock market even as US equities have weakened over the past few months.
The MSCI Singapore Index Fund (EWS) is up nearly 10% since March 1 compared to a 5% decline for the S&P 500 over the same time period.
Even as economists worry about the possiblity of a douple dip recession in the U.S. and Europe, Singapore’s economic performance continues to exceed expectations. According to the New York Times, in the first half of the year, Singapore’s economy expanded at a record 17.9 percent, prompting the government to forecast 13 to 15 percent growth in gross domestic product for 2010.
EWS tracks an index that measures the performance of the Singaporean equity market aiming to capture 85% of the (publicly available) total market capitalization. Top holdings include financials--United Overseas Bank, DBS Group Holdings, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Telecom–Singapore Telecom and Industrials–Keppel Corp.
The net expense ratio for the ETF is 0.55% and the 30-day SEC yield is 1.38%.
For more investing choices, see the list of country ETFs.