ETF Watch: Chinese ETFs Immune to Rate Hikes (FXI, GXC, HAO, YAO)

China keeps tightening its monetary policy to fight inflation.  The Chinese central bank has raised rates four times and has taken other monetary tightening initiatives, but the moves are only putting a governor on the Chinese ETFs rather than killing them.

When you come in after a night’s sleep and read about surprise rate hikes, chances are you would generally think that it would be treated as a financial governor.  If that has been the case, you wouldn’t know it just looking at broader Chinese equity exchange-traded products.  Some of these are actually up so far today and they are all still within striking distance of 52-week highs.

iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund (NYSE: FXI) is down only 0.3% at $46.18 in late-afternoon trading and the 52-week trading range is $36.24 to $47.99.

SPDR S&P China (NYSE: GXC) is actually up by a few cents at $82.89 in late-afternoon trading and the 52-week trading range is $44.00 to $84.88.

Another fund is up even more today in the Guggenheim China Small Cap (NYSE: HAO).  Its shares are up 0.6% at $30.08 and its 52-week trading range is $22.20 to $33.57.

The Guggenheim China All-Cap (NYSE: YAO) ETF is up 0.3% at $29.51 and the 52-week range is $20.00 to $30.40.

If you saw the reaction so far against how it has treated these key ETFs which follow Chinese stocks, and keep in mind that there is almost no currency fluctuation with China, then maybe it is time to go ahead and have Uncle Ben (Bernanke) get off this zero-rate policy here in the United States.

JON C. OGG