ETF Spotlight on iShares MSCI Austria (NYSEArca: EWO), part of an ongoing series. The Austria exchange traded fund jumped more than 3% on Thursday as reports of an EU agreement on a second Greek bailout lifted sentiment across Europe.
Assets: $157 million.
Objective: The Austria ETF tries to reflect the performance of publicly traded securities in the Austrian market.
Holdings: Top holdings include: Erste Group Bank 16.54%, OMV 11.13%, Voestalpine 10.24%, Telekom Austria 6.71% and Immofinanz 6.50%.
What You Should Know:
- EWO has an expense ratio of 0.54%.
- The fund has 32 holdings.
- Sector allocations include: Financials 40.15%, Industrials 18.46%, Materials 13.32%, Energy 13.07%, Telecom Services 6.71%, Utilities 5.88%, Info Tech 1.35%, Health Care 0.33%, S-T Securities 0.03% and other 0.69%.
- The Austria ETF “has found support across $21 a share, a level which has cushioned all breakdown attempts this year,” Tarquin Coe, Investors Intelligence technical analyst, writes in a newsletter. The fund has a yield over 2% and is “heavily weighted towards financials but the worse-case scenario for that sector looks to be priced in for the time being and consequently we feel the risk is now to the upside.” [Euro ETFs in Focus Before EU Meeting.]
The Latest News:
- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recommended that Austria reduce state deficits, curb early retirement and help its financial sector to strengthen its export-dependent economy, reports Michael Shields for Reuters.
- “The authorities should seize the opportunity to strengthen reforms and maintain high growth, which in the past has been considerably boosted by European integration effects which are likely to fade out in the future,” said the OECD. “It would be advisable to require all major banking groups to present a clear medium-term strategy of capital strengthening, including a gradual repayment of government capital.”
- Oesterreichische Volksbank AG failed the recent E.U. stress test, according to BusinessWeek.The other two Austrian banks, Erste Bank Group and Raiffeisen Bank International, passed the stress tests. [Bank Deals May Provide Relief for Austria ETF.]
For past stories in this series, visit our ETF Spotlight category.
iShares MSCI Austria
Chart source: Coe Report, Investors Intelligence.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.