A roster of Japanese equities ETFs, particularly those focused on small-cap securities, were some of the best-performing funds in the past week ended Thursday, March 21, as Japan's new central bank head reassured naysayers that he will do whatever it takes to hit inflation targets as soon as possible.
The WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend ETF (DFJ) gained 4.27 percent even as the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.8 percent in the same period.
Other funds, including the SPDR Russell/Nomura Small Cap Japan (JSC), the iShares MSCI Japan Small Cap Index Fund (SCJ) and First Trust's Japan AlphaDex ETF (FJP) were all found on the week's top-performers list.
Strong rhetoric from Bank of Japan's newly instituted head Haruhiko Kuroda this week reinforced the BOJ's intention to possibly embark on open-ended asset purchases, and to hit a 2 percent inflation target, language that helped support the yen and fuel expectations that Japan might indeed find a way out of years of deflation.
On the flip side, India- and Brazil-focused funds tallied some of the steepest losses in the past week.
The Market Vectors India Small-Cap ETF (SCIF) and the EGShares India Infrastructure ETF (INXX) each bled some 9.4 percent of their value, respectively, while a pair of Brazil equities-focused funds by Global X and First Trust gave up some 5 percent in five days.
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and '1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| GRN | iPath Global Carbon ETN | 21.72% | 2,575 | 0.65 |
| ITB | iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction | 4.62% | 26,568,901 | 2,499.86 |
| DFJ | WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend | 4.27% | 403,661 | 179.04 |
| JSC | SPDR Russell/Nomura Small Cap Japan | 4.20% | 75,727 | 69.06 |
| NAGS | Teucrium Natural Gas | 4.18% | 22,887 | 3.74 |
| GAZ | iPath Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas Total Return ETN | 3.74% | 588,096 | 41.35 |
| SCJ | iShares MSCI Japan Small Cap | 3.39% | 68,312 | 58.96 |
| GLDX | Global X Gold Explorers | 3.27% | 218,423 | 37.77 |
| FJP | First Trust Japan AlphaDex | 3.24% | 30,343 | 13.75 |
| GDX | Market Vectors Gold Miners | 3.18% | 60,356,144 | 7,639.82 |
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and '1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| SCIF | Market Vectors India Small-Cap | -9.43% | 2,000,051 | 107.19 |
| INXX | EGShares India Infrastructure | -9.42% | 147,233 | 51.16 |
| GREK | Global X FTSE Greece 20 | -7.63% | 204,134 | 24.17 |
| SCIN | EGShares India Small Cap | -7.21% | 50,448 | 20.88 |
| JJT | iPath Dow Jones-UBS Tin Total Return ETN | -5.79% | 6,701 | 8.27 |
| EPI | WisdomTree India Earnings | -5.42% | 13,647,142 | 1,067.44 |
| KWT | Market Vectors Solar Energy | -5.32% | 27,944 | 11.58 |
| BRAQ | Global X Brazil Consumer | -5.12% | 49,869 | 24.26 |
| FBZ | First Trust Brazil AlphaDex | -5.00% | 6,403 | 5.79 |
| PLND | Market Vectors Poland | -4.91% | 39,480 | 29.54 |
Disclaimer:All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.
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