ETF Spotlight on iShares MSCI Spain (NYSEArca: EWP), part of an ongoing series.
Assets: $219.9 million
Objective: The iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund tries to reflect the performance of a broad index tracking Spanish stocks.
Holdings: Top holdings include: Banco Santander SA 20.89%, Telefonica SA 18.25%, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argenta 8.73%, Iberdrola SA 4.93% and Repsol YPF SA 4.88%.
What You Should Know:
- EWP has an expense ratio of 0.54%.
- The fund has 31 holdings.
- Sector allocations include: Financials 42.46%, Telecom Services 18.25%, Utilities 14.69%, Industrials 9.97%, Consumer Discretionary 5.40%, Energy 4.88%, Info Tech 2.25%, Health Care 1.00%, Materials 0.97%, S-T Securities 0.01% and other 0.12%.
The Latest News:
- Shares of Spanish banks dropped Wednesday after Moody’s downgraded Portugal’s sovereign-debt rating, reports Christopher Bjork for The Wall Street Journal. Spain’s financial system has the most exposure to Portuguese risk at $113 billion in public and private debt, or a third of Spain’s total debt.
- Spain will rein in spending after the economy has recovered, according to Expatica Spain. The government aims to lower the deficit to 6% of GDP this year and 4% in 2012. The Eurozone has placed a limit of 3% in 2013 and 2.1% in 2014.
- “It is not for now, because at the moment spending has to be reduced, and by a lot, to comply with the stability goals, with the plan we have agreed with Europe,” stated Finance Minister Elena Salgado, according to the report.
- Industrial output declined 0.14% in May year-over-year, reports Angeline Benoit for Bloomberg. The Spanish government expecst the economy will expand 1.3% this year as exports boost the economy while austerity measures weaken domestic demand.
- On Wednesday, thousands of people gathered in Pamplona’s main square for the San Fermin Festival to begin the famous wine-soaked party known as “Chupinazo” and run with the bulls, reports Paul Logothetis for the Associated Press.
For past stories in this series, visit our ETF Spotlight category.
iShares MSCI Spain
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.