Some of the worst performing country-specific ETFs of this year cover India’s market.
For example, the VanEck Vectors India Small-Cap Index ETF (NYSEArca: SCIF) plunged 16.4%, EGShares India Small Cap ETF (NYSEArca: SCIN) declined 16.4%, EGShares India Infrastructure Index Fund (NYSEArca: INXX) decreased 12.8% and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: SMIN) dropped 10.8% year-to-date.
Meanwhile, the iShares MSCI India ETF (CBOE: INDA), the largest India country-specific ETF, fell 6.5% so far this year, its worst performance to a new year since its inception back in 2012.
A number of factors are dragging on India’s economy and equities market. For starters, a newly introduced tax bill on long-term capital gains dissuaded many middle-income Indians from maintaining momentum in the equities market, Bloomberg reports.
Related: New Tax Pulls Rug From Under India ETFs
Starting in April, investors redeeming shares after holding their investments for more than a year will have to pay a 10% levy on all capital gains exceeding Rs100,000, or $1,560. Selling long-term stock investments have been tax free since 2004.