EWY Stock Recent News

Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

US-China trade war carries multiple downside risks for South Korea's economy which is heavily exposed to both countries. Trade war's end result likely to be lower Korean exports to China, margin compression for major exporters. Tariff might still be a boon for Korean economy in the long-term if it alleviates competitive pressure coming from China.

The S&P 500 (SPY) rallied 5.7% this week but remains down 5.4% since the close on "Liberation Day" on 4/2. The average country ETF is down 4% since 4/2, so SPY has underperformed that since Trump's Rose Garden announcement. Asian countries like Vietnam (VNAM) and Thailand (THD) had some of the harshest reciprocal tariffs announced on Liberation Day, and since the pause, these two have bounced back 16.7% and 14.1%.

Topping the list and outperforming in that span have been emerging market countries like Brazil and India, which are both up well over 6.5%. International ETFs don't only have momentum on their side, but they also offer higher yields than the US at the current moment. Across all 22 ETFs, the average yield stands at 3.25%.

Our emerging markets watchlist tracks nine indexes from emerging economies around the world. Emerging markets are countries with economies in the process of rapid growth and industrialization.

After a poor 2024, South Korea has rallied year-to-date. Valuations aren't that cheap as a result. Meanwhile, fundamental challenges still loom large.

Korean equities, tracked by EWY, are once again cheaper than Chinese equities, making them attractive due to Korea's technological edge and U.S.-friendly stance. EWY is around 21% Samsung, and most of the time acts as a proxy for this otherwise difficult-to-trade stock. Samsung underperformed the broader Korean market on the back of downward earnings revisions, and now trades at 9x 2026 estimated GAAP EPS.

Gains among South Korean names were led by Hanwha Aerospace, Korea Aerospace Industries, Hyundai Rotem and LIG Nex1. The pickup in South Korean stocks comes amid expectations of higher defense costs in Europe, after regional leaders held security talks that touched on bolstered military spending.

Asian stock markets are trading lower on Monday, following negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. Investor sentiment has been impacted by concerns over higher inflation after the US imposed new tariffs over the weekend.

FLKR and EWY are the two offerings that investors can pursue if they are looking for unlevered ETF products that cover South Korean equities. We highlight why the former is the better choice of the two. South Korea is in the throes of major political upheaval while the Trump administration could levy some unsavory surprises on Korea's exports which account for 44% of GDP.