- Buoyed by higher commodities prices, EPU, the lone exchange traded fund devoted to Peruvian stocks, is up 22% year-to-date
- EPU is reflective of Peru’s status as a major miner of gold, silver and copper
- Economic data supportive a bullish outlook on EPU and Peruvian stocks
After several years of disappointing performances, Latin American equities are rebounding this year. While Brazil, the region’s largest economy, commands most of the attention, investors should sleep on Peru and the iShares MSCI All Peru Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EPU).
Buoyed by higher commodities prices, EPU, the lone exchange traded fund devoted to Peruvian stocks, is up 22% year-to-date. EPU is reflective of Peru’s status as a major miner of gold, silver and copper. The ETF devotes 46.4% of its weight to the materials sector and another 30.1% to financial services stocks. No other sector commands more than 8.8% of the ETF’s weight. [Peru ETF Looks for More Upside]
Economic data supportive a bullish outlook on EPU and Peruvian stocks.
“The latest data showed mining output slowed to 7.8% year over year, from a record high of 22.4% year over year in December, and construction, manufacturing and retail contracted by 2.7%, 3.9% and 2.6% year over year, respectively,” reports Dimitra DeFotis for Barron’s, citing Capital Economics data.
EPU has come a long way from struggling amid lower gold and silver prices (Peru is a major producer of both metals) and wondering about Peru’s market classification.