A tiny exchange traded fund tracking Ireland remains in the green so far this year as economic data showed solid growth in the first quarter, but the outlook is clouded by Europe’s debt crisis.
Some analysts argue that the Irish economy is just scraping by and may see growth taper off due to poor domestic demand.
The iShares MSCI Ireland (NYSEArca: EIRL) is up 5.3% year to date, according to Morningstar. The fund has $4.2 million in assets. [ETF Chart of the Day: Ireland]
Ireland’s GDP expanded 1.3% in the first quarter over the previous three months, the strongest quarterly growth in more than three years, report Dara Doyle and Finbarr Flynn for Bloomberg.
Yet Irish government bonds remain weak amid worries the debt crisis is spreading from Greece to other countries on Europe’s periphery such as Italy and Ireland.
Yields on 10-year Ireland government bonds recently touched 14%. Moody’s earlier this month cut Ireland’s credit rating to junk status.