The iShares MSCI India ETF (BATS:INDA) is on watch today, after major Indian market indexes closed out their sixth straight day of losses.

The declines were particularly sharp for pharma companies and those that do much of their tech business overseas. From Bloomberg:

Indian stocks declined for a sixth day, led by consumer companies and software exporters, amid low trading volumes before the year-end holidays. Gainers equaled decliners among the benchmark index’s 30 members.

The Indian markets started weakening back in October, but Donald Trump’s presidential win — along with a historic high-denomination note ban — really set the bearish wheels in motion last month. Early indications are that the war on cash has led to a substantial economic downturn.

Critics of the policy note the move will disproportionately punish the poor, and won’t really make a dent on crime, as regulators been hoped.

The Indian government is also considering curbing the gold holdings of citizens, in another measure aimed at helping eliminate black markets and forcing consumers into investing in other assets. Roughly 78% of Indian household savings is in gold — mostly gold jewelry. But that ban could just lead to a spike in silver investment instead.

Indian markets clearly have more tough times ahead, and if the recent economic sanctions don’t work out as planned, we could see the country’s stocks underperform for many years to come.

INDA shares fell $0.07 (-0.27%) to $26.50 in Wednesday morning trading. Year-to-date, the largest ETF focused on Indian equities has declined 3.62%, and is now 13.5% off its yearly highs set back in October.

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