Thanks in large part to rising Brent crude prices, the VanEck Vectors Russia ETF (NYSEArca: RSX) and the iShares MSCI Russia Capped Index Fund (NYSEArca: ERUS) are among the best-performing single-country emerging markets exchange traded funds (ETFs) this year.
However, where there are winners, there are often losers and in this case, resurgent Russian stocks and exchange traded funds are proving punitive to a predictable candidate: The Direxion Daily Russia Bear 3x Shares (NYSEArca: RUSS) has plunged 56% year-to-date.
Related: Emerging Markets ETFs Keep Bleeding Assets
Impressive still is the fact that Russian stocks and exchange traded funds such as RSX and ERUS are rallying despite the lack of significant production cuts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are major oil-producing countries that are not OPEC members, such as Russia.
With the oil factor in mind and the energy sectors overweight position in ETFs like RSX and ERUS, it might be logical to think that boosting output at a time of still low oil prices is not something Russia would do. However, that is exactly what the country is considering doing. In fact, Russian oil output is expected to climb this year.
It is those themes and others that have sent RSX, ERUS and RUSS’s bullish equivalent, the Direxion Daily Russia Bull 3x Shares (NYSE: RUSL), soaring. RUSL, which attempts to deliver triple the daily returns of the index tracked by RSX, is higher by nearly 65% over the past 90 days. Things have not been nearly as good for RUSS.
[related_stories]“Betting against Russian stocks this year was a bad idea, so tripling down was even worse. Direxion Daily Russia Bear 3x Shares — an exchange-traded fund which makes leveraged investments against Russian equities that essentially triple the wager — fell 61 percent through Friday in the third-worst performance among almost 1,000 U.S.-domiciled funds. Among the top performers as recently as January, the $53 million fund now trades near a record low as Brent crude’s slump and rebound whipsawed investors in the world’s largest energy producer,” reports Elena Popina for Bloomberg.
Recent price action in RSX is encouraging, particularly when considering market observers widely expect Russia’s worst post-Soviet era recession to extend throughout this year.
Related: Russia ETFs Reward, but Caution is Required
Onlookers remain cautious over the market outlook. While President Vladimir Putin and other Russian politicians argue that the worst is over, the economy is expected to remain in a recession for the year. Russia’s GDP is expected to contract again this year, extending what is becoming a lengthy recession.
Investors could also be lured back to RSX and Russian stocks due to some of the emerging world’s cheapest valuations. RSX is home to some of the emerging world’s least expensive stocks. The largest Russia ETF trading in the ETF allocates over 37% of its weight to energy stocks, by far its biggest sector weight.
Direxion Daily Russia Bull 3x Shares
