It has been a rough start to 2014 for emerging markets exchange traded funds. The same can be said of some single-country Europe ETFs.
The Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (NYSEArca: GREK) is proving defiant on both fronts. Remember that in 2013, three major index providers – Russell Investments, MSCI and S&P Dow Jones Indices – demoted Greece to emerging markets status. So like it or not, GREK is an emerging markets ETF. [Greek Stocks Headed to Emerging Markets Index]
That has not stopped the fund from jumping over 6% to start 2014 while staging an impressive technical breakout. GREK gained. GREK’s breakout gained momentum Thursday when the ETF gained 0.6% on more than double the average daily turnover on a lethargic day for U.S. stocks.
Up more than 16% in the past 90 days, GREK may not be down delivering upside.
“Volume has also confirmed the move, as turnover is already well above the 10-week moving average of volume,” said Deron Wagner of Morpheus Trading Group regarding GREK. “The consolidation starting from late October was pretty tight and shallow, giving back less than 33% of the last wave up (from late August to late October).”
GREK entered 2013 as one of the world’s least expensive markets on a CAPE basis and the ETF confirmed the value proposition of Greek equities, soaring almost 25% last year. [Inexpensive Global Markets Delivered]
“Whether this is a global rotation into the junkiest of the junk – betting on the inevitable rescue and intervention to keep everyone safe, or merely front-running an ECB QE effort as inflation tumbles – is unclear but it is worth noting that this is the best start to a year for Greek stocks since 1994,” according to Zerohedge.
Shares of National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG), one of GREK’s holdings that trades in the U.S., is up 3.5% in the past five sessions. The stock is GREK’s fourth-largest holding with a weight of almost 7.4%.
Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.