Today’s news that China enjoyed better-than-expected gains in its manufacturing sector really pushed stocks in the emerging market segment higher. The state-affiliated China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing announced that its purchasing managers index, or PMI, rose to 51.7 in August from 51.2 in July and 52.1 in June. Any number above 50 represents manufacturing expansion, and the fact that the August number was up after declining in the previous four months was crucial to the buying that took place in the emerging markets.

Midway through Wednesday’s trading session, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) -- an exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to reflect the performance of a host of emerging market stocks -- was up nearly 3.5%. As you can see here by the six-month chart of EEM, the fund is now back above its long-term, 200-day moving average.

In my opinion, this segment of the equity market is going to lead the way forward as we head into the final third of 2010. The main reason for this likely market leadership is the tremendous growth in so many emerging markets, including Brazil, China and Taiwan, to name just a few.

This ETF is so powerful that I actually am recommending it to subscribers of my Successful Investing advisory service. And though the fund has seen its fair share of volatility of late, the trend now clearly is headed in a bullish direction.

If you’d like to find out how you can allocate some of your serious money to funds such as EEM, then I invite you to check out my Successful Investing advisory service today.