We noticed bearish put buyers in EWT (iShares Taiwan) that surfaced on Wednesday in the options market, as investors seem to be expressing caution about this country specific exchange traded fund going into year’s end.
EWT has notably lagged EFA (iShares MSCI EAFE) year to date, falling 23.17% versus EFA down 12.83% and the ETF remains below its 50 day moving average ( which is $12.51 a share currently) and significantly below its 200 day moving average (which is $14.11 currently).
EWT is one of two ETFs that focus on the Taiwanese equities market, with top holdings including Taiwan Semiconductor, Hon Hai Precision, HTC Corporation, Chunghwa Telecom, and Mediatek Inc.
A relative newcomer to the space is TWON (IndexIQ Taiwan Small Cap), which debuted in mid- 2010. Unlike the large cap focused EWT, TWON grants exposure to small cap names that are based in Taiwan.