Emerging markets equities are soaring in 2017 and one of the best-performing markets within that group is India. For example, the iShares MSCI India ETF (BATS: INDA), PowerShares India Portfolio (NYSEArca: PIN) and the WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (NYSE: EPI) have all notched double-digit year-to-date gains.
Enticing money managers, India’s economy is expected to expand faster than its BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China – counterparts. India’s trade imbalances are also diminishing and the country’s currency and stocks have held up. The gains have not been confined to Indian large-caps.
The India ETFs that focus on small capitalization stocks have been among the best performers in the emerging markets category year-to-date, with the Columbia India Small Cap ETF (NYSEArca: SCIN), VanEck Vectors India Small-Cap Index ETF (NYSEArca: SCIF) and the iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF (BATS: SMIN) each among this year’s best-performing single-country emerging markets ETFs. New Delhi projects India’s economy could expand between 6.75% and 7.5% in 2017-18 as the government shifts tactics on its economy.
“Approximately 10 million Indians are joining the workforce every year. Its non-performing loan cycle has likely peaked. It is a beneficiary of low oil and commodity prices. Its people are free to compete economically and express themselves politically. When you add a strong-willed reformer to the mix, the case for India’s economic future is compelling,” according to a PNC Capital Advisors note posted by Dimitra DeFotis of Barron’s.