iShares MSCI Japan ETF Had $692 Million Inflow Tuesday -TrimTabs
March 16 2011 - 1:26PM
Dow Jones News
iShares MSCI Japan (EWJ), the largest exchange traded fund by
assets that invests in Japan, received an inflow of $692 million
Tuesday, TrimTabs Investment Research calculated.
On Wednesday, Japanese stocks rebounded sharply, recovering some
of the ground they lost due to a worsening crisis at a Japanese
nuclear plant crippled by the recent tsunami.
The inflow into the ETF is the largest single-day inflow for the
fund since it was launched in March 1996, according to TrimTabs.
The inflow was equivalent to about 12.4% of the ETF's total assets
on Monday. As of Tuesday, the fund's total assets stood at $6.26
billion, TrimTabs said.
The inflow showed that investors were "being optimistic on the
situation in Japan," says Minyi Chen, Asia equity analyst at
TrimTabs. TrimTabs calculates the flows based on publicly available
data about the fund.
The fund's top holdings as of the end of February include Toyota
Motor Corp. (7203.TO,TM), Honda Motor Co. (7267.TO,HMC) and
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU,8306.TO), according to the fund
company's website. Exchange traded funds hold baskets of stocks
like mutual funds, but their shares are traded on exchanges.
"Look at the size of the inflow [Tuesday] and you realize that
so many are buying the dip," says Chen. "I guess they are just
hoping once the nuclear plant crisis is solved we'll see a quick
recovery. Meanwhile, the Japanese government is pumping liquidity
into the market and investors have reason to believe that [Bank of
Japan] will prevent the market from melting down."
The final outcome of the Japanese nuclear plant crisis remains
unresolved. U.S. stocks sank deeper into the red on Wednesday as
worries rose that the crisis was intensifying.
Japan's Nikkei stock index gained 5.7% on Wednesday, recouping
some of the 16% swoon of the prior two days and taking some
pressure off global markets. The Bank of Japan was actively
injecting liquidity into the market again on Wednesday.
iShares MSCI Japan recently traded at $9.62, down 4.1%.
-By Aparajita Saha-Bubna, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6729;
aparajita.saha-bubna@dowjones.com