Updates on Foreign Closed-end Funds India Fund and Chile Fund

Article Excerpt

INDIA FUND $51.75 (New York symbol IFN; CWA Rating: Aggressive) invests mainly in large capitalization Indian stocks. The manager of the fund is the Blackstone Group. India Fund dropped recently from an all-time high of $71.54 along with turmoil in global stock markets. But the Indian economy is still strong, and inflation and interest rates remain low. The Indian government encourages foreign investment, and has boosted infrastructure spending and rural development, and cut taxes. India will likely report growth in its economy of 8.5% in 2007. Growth in 2008 is forecast at 10%. India Fund’s top holdings are: Reliance Industries (conglomerate), 11.8%; Bharti AirTel (telecom), 7.2%; Infosys Technologies (software) at 6.0%; Bharat Heavy Electricals (engineering & manufacturing), 4.9%; Housing Development Finance (finance), 3.9%; ICICI Bank (banking), 3.7%; Reliance Communications (telecom), 3.4%; Oil & Natural Gas Corp., 2.6%; Jindal Power & Steel (steel & power generation), 2.2%; and HDFC Bank (banking), 1.9%. India’s economy is benefiting not only from rising exports and from providing global…