3 Country ETFs Topped Last Week

Oil had a big day on Apr 2 as the liquid commodity saw a record single-day jump of about 25%. President Trump’s tweets that he expects Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach an agreement for a considerable production cut sent oil rallying. WTI crude ETF United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) LP USO added about 40% last week (read: Will Oil Continue Riding the Trump Mojo? ETFs in Focus).

While several corners of the investing world benefited from the move, oil exploration companies’ stocks and some oil-rich nations’ shares gained considerably last week. Below we highlight a few ETFs of key oil producing and exporting countries that generate major share of their GDP from oil. These country ETFs bleed when oil slips and vice versa.

Russia —iShares MSCI Russia ETF ERUS — Up 10.4% past week

Oil is seemingly the main commodity of Russia. About half of Russia’s exports in terms of value come from oil and natural gas as the country has the sixth-largest oil reserve in the world and the biggest natural gas reserve. This makes it clear why Russia’s economy is highly dependent on oil price movement (see all Broad Emerging Market ETFs here).

The energy sector accounts for about 46% of ERUS, which charges 59 basis points. Energy companies like NK Lukoil (14.76%), Gazprom (MCX:GAZP) (13.86%), Pao Novatek GDR (4.77%) and Tatneft (TATN) get a place in the top-10 holdings.

Saudi Arabia —iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF KSA — Up 8.9%

Saudi is the de facto leader of the OPEC group. Oil has been battered this year due to a price war instigated by a collapse of the three-year long OPEC+ pact, which resulted in a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Initially, Saudi wanted to prolong the deal after March but failed to gather Russia’s support.

In response, Saudi Arabia is boosting its oil production toward its target of supplying a record 12.3 million barrels a day in April, up from about 9.7 million in February. No wonder, an oil price recovery would favour the Saudi ETF. Financials take about 40.9% of the fund KSA, followed by materials (24.59%).

Norway — iShares MSCI Norway ETF ENOR — Up 2.0%

Norway is among the top 10 nations that are famous for oil exports. With its comparatively low population, oil forms a key part of the Norway’s GDP. Norway is one of the biggest oil drillers in Europe.

The ETF has considerable weight on energy stocks, as these make up about 21.5% of the portfolio. The fund charges 53 bps in fees.

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United States Oil ETF (USO): ETF Research Reports

iShares MSCI Russia ETF (ERUS): ETF Research Reports

iShares MSCI Norway ETF (ENOR): ETF Research Reports

iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF (KSA): ETF Research Reports

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