An exchange traded fund indexed to Germany was among the steepest decliners in Wednesday’s premarket trading after Greece’s prime minister survived a vote of confidence.
The iShares MSCI Germany (NYSEArca: EWG) was down 2% before the bell. [Germany ETF Profiled]
The vote of confidence in Prime Minister George Papandreou throws the focus back to Germany and the European Central Bank over the question of further financial aid for Greece, Bloomberg reported. [Stock ETFs Rally with Adobe, Greece in Focus After Hours]
“The question that’s still lingering is the old cage match between the ECB and Germany, and who’s going to give and who’s going to blink, and how much,” said Ilan Solot, currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, according to the report.
Another single-country ETF, iShares MSCI Brazil (NYSEArca: EWZ), also slipped nearly 2% in preopen dealings Wednesday.
In precious metals, iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca: SLV) and SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) were down fractionally ahead of the Federal Reserve statement expected Wednesday afternoon.
ETFs tracking the euro were flat after the Greek vote. [Euro ETFs Quiet]
iShares MSCI Germany