It’s been a rough start to March on Wall Street, but the picture is more mixed beyond U.S. borders.
ETFs that mirror China‘s and Japan‘s markets closed out last week lower, while the U.K. finished 3% higher.
The ERUS Russia ETF was also among the best of the group, rising by more than 3%.
Boris Schlossberg, managing director at BK Asset Management, told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” that oil is a big source of Russia’s growth.
“It’s pretty clear that oil has really found a very, very strong consolidation of the $60 level … if you’re a big believer that oil stays, these levels go higher. It’s very positive for Russia, very positive for the Russian economy,” Schlossberg said Friday.
Schlossberg also pointed to news from Goldman Sachs last week as a plus for Russia. The firm expects the commodities sector to return 15.5% over the year.
“Goldman’s thesis that commodities is entering into a very strong bull market because of infrastructure needs all across the world only helps Russia,” he said.
The ERUS ETF is up nearly 5% this year, more than double gains of the S&P 500.
Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, said recent strength in the U.S. dollar might be a turning point for the emerging markets.
“The weaker dollar had been a very big positive for the EEM [emerging market] index, but at this point in time, the dollar is starting to reverse just a little bit, with some of the volatility we’ve seen in the market,” he said during the same interview.
Johnson noted that reversal indicates a time to cash out.
“We’re actually starting to see a little bit of a short-term top getting put in the EEM index, so it looks like to us, it’s time to be taking a little bit of profits in that name,” he said.
The EEM ETF has risen more than 4% this year.
And, with both the U.S. and Europe on their way to economic recovery, Johnson said one is still in the lead.
“I would say that the European index has sort of lagged compared to where we’re at for the U.S. in terms of this pandemic recovery. And from my perspective, I’d still rather buy U.S. stocks than buy the European blue chip names with the Euro STOXX 50 right now,” Johnson said.
