Japan Funds Jump, But India Funds Flop
06/07/08 - 11:07 AM EDT
Kevin Baker
As Japan's Kibo lab is being delivered to the International Space Station by the U.S. space shuttle Discovery, the geographically focused funds specializing in Japanese stocks outperformed all other countries and regions for the week ended Thursday, June 5.
At the same time, Indian funds dominated the worst-performing list due to turmoil over a hike in the price of gasoline, diesel fuel and liquefied petroleum gas by the Union government. Competing political parties are planning to make trouble with shutdowns on June 10 to protest the higher prices. With a one-day jump of 10.97% in gasoline and 9.43% in diesel, prices at the pump skyrocketed. Three Indian states, West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, reacted by going out on strike, shutting down the container port of Kochi. The government warned that more price hikes should be expected, as subsidizing the cost of crude oil can't be sustained, even at the new price level. Meanwhile, Japan is pushing ahead in technology and innovation. Not only did Japanese auto maker Toyota Motors(TM Quote - Cramer on TM - Stock Picks) just announce a 516-mile-range hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle and a J.D. Power award, but Sapporo Breweries teamed with Okayama University to make "space beer" from barley that had been on board the International Space Station for five months. The best-performing geographically focused fund for the week ending Thursday, June 5, is the Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund(JOF Quote - Cramer on JOF - Stock Picks). This closed-end fund gained 7.90% for the period on gains of 23.44% in Eagle Industry, 22.20% in O-M Ltd, and 17.14% in Exedy Corp. The fund's holdings have a weighted average market capitalization of $1.22 billion. In second place is the ProFunds UltraJapan ProFund(UJPIX Quote - Cramer on UJPIX - Stock Picks), which added 4.63%, targeting 200% of the performance of the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, with index futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Some of the largest gains of the index members came from Japanese auto makers, with Mazda Motor(MZDAF Quote - Cramer on MZDAF - Stock Picks), up 16.37%; Honda Motor(HMC Quote - Cramer on HMC - Stock Picks), up 13.39%; Mitsubishi Motors(MMTOF Quote - Cramer on MMTOF - Stock Picks), up 13.26%; and Toyota Motor up 7.71%. The big news here is the economical Honda Civic knocking off Ford Motor's(F Quote - Cramer on F - Stock Picks) F-series truck as the best-selling U.S. vehicle. Toyota Motor is the top holding of the third-place fund, Fidelity Advisor Japan Fund(FAJCX Quote - Cramer on FAJCX - Stock Picks). After Toyota at 7.4% of assets, the next largest holdings are Canon(CAJ Quote - Cramer on CAJ - Stock Picks) at 5.8%, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group(SMFJY Quote - Cramer on SMFJY - Stock Picks) at 4.5%.| Best Performing Geographically Focused Funds for the Week Ending Thursday June 5 | ||||||
| Fund | Ticker | Rating | Fund Type | 1 Week Total Return | ||
| Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund Inc | JOF | E | Closed-End | 7.90% | ||
| ProFunds UltraJapan ProFund | UJPIX | E | Open-End | 4.63% | ||
| Fidelity Advisor Japan Fund | FAJCX | D- | Open-End | 4.57% | ||
| Fidelity Japan Fund/United States | FJPNX | C- | Open-End | 4.51% | ||
| Henderson Japan-Asia Focus Fund | HFJAX | U | Open-End | 4.31% | ||
| Japan Fund Inc/fund | SJPNX | C | Open-End | 4.19% | ||
| AIM Japan Fund | AJFAX | U | Open-End | 4.00% | ||
| Japan Equity Fund Inc | JEQ | C | Closed-End | 3.87% | ||
| Oppenheimer Baring Japan Fund | OBJAX | U | Open-End | 3.81% | ||
| DWS Japan Equity Fund | FJEAX | E+ | Open-End | 3.75% | ||
| Source: Bloomberg & TheStreet.com Ratings | ||||||
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