3 Emerging Market ETFs With Appealing Charts (ASEA, ECON, THD)

A few solid days of broader market action has been good for more than just investor sentiment. The bang with which stocks finished last week has helped the technical fortunes of plenty of ETFs. Add to that, there are some signs -- faint as they may be -- that investors are once again starting to embrace select emerging market ETFs.

Given recent market volatility and the fragility of the market's upside, not all emerging markets ETFs have given investors the green light to pull the trigger. For example, the slack performances offered by many Brazil ETFs might come some investors at bay while fundamental issues continue to plague India.

On the other hand, there are some funds tracking developing nations that are sporting bullish technicals and look poised to rally higher in the near-term. Here are a few examples:

Global X FTSE ASEAN 40 ETF (NYSE: ASEA) With an almost 39 percent weight to Singapore, the Global X FTSE ASEAN 40 ETF is not a pure play emerging markets ETF, but it is close. The Singapore exposure is not going to hurt if Asian equity markets rebound. ASEA is coming off a solid run last week and is currently bumping against some technical resistance in the $16.25 area.

The fund is not yet overbought, as measured by its RSI. Any bullish action in Indonesia, Malaysian and Thai equities would help ASEA as those nations combine for about 60 percent of the fund's weight.

iShares MSCI Thailand Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: THD) The iShares MSCI Thailand Investable Market Index Fund is once again flexing its muscles relative to the broader emerging markets universe. Year-to-date, the fund is up 14.7 percent compared to a 5.1 percent gain for the Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE: VWO).

Thailand is not immune from the global economic slowdown and the central bank there recently pared its 2012 growth outlook to 5.7 percent from six percent, but the Bank of Thailand does have room to cut interest rates if it needs to, Bloomberg reported.
Bottom line: This is one of the sturdier Southeast Asian economies and inflation is not a major issue. If THD can move above $70, it has a clear path back to $75. The good news is THD, like ASEA, is not yet overbought.

EGShares Emerging Markets Consumer ETF (NYSE: ECON) ECON has jumped 4.4 percent in the past week and this fund has been a decent performer this year with a gain of nearly six percent. That is no small feat given that ECON devotes more than 27 percent of its weight to Brazil and India, two of the weaker links in the emerging markets chain in 2012.

ECON has benefited from the recently bullish performance of Mexican equities as that country represents almost 20 percent of the fund's weight. Beyond Mexico, ECON offers the benefit of decent allocations to Chile and Malaysia, two countries that would likely be leaders not laggards in a legitimate emerging markets rally.

BY The ETF Professor