Global index provider MSCI yesterday announced that it is to trim Taiwan’s weighting in two of its indices after the trading session ends on Aug. 31.
It is to reduce Taiwan’s position in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by 0.12 percentage points, to 15.4 percent from 15.52 percent, while lowering its rating in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index by 0.21 percentage points, to 17.67 percent from 17.88 percent, it said on its Web site.
Taiwan’s score on the MSCI Global Standard Indexes would hold steady at 1.65 percent following its latest quarterly review, it said.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
MSCI reviews its portfolio in February, May, August and November each year, with the moves closely watched by the investment community because many mutual funds and exchange-traded funds use the indices as benchmarks.
Meanwhile, MSCI is to add Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉), a leading graphics card vendor for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, to the global standard indices and ditch Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋半導體), the world’s largest pure-play gallium arsenide foundry, MSCI said.
Win Semiconductors would join the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes, it said.
The switches were widely expected, as Gigabyte’s shares have more than doubled in the past few months on the back of an AI craze, despite lackluster revenue.
The New Taipei City-based company’s sales last month fell 9.9 percent from a month earlier to NT$8.69 billion (US$273.29 million), but rose 16.9 percent from a year earlier, a company stock filing showed.
Gigabyte chairman Dandy Yeh (葉培城) said that the company is upbeat about its server business this year, but is cautious about personal computers and peripheral products.
Demand for servers would be more evident in the second half, Yeh said.
Gigabyte’s weighting would climb to 0.48 percent as a result of adjustments that would heighten volatility for underlying assets and trading sessions, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday.
The MSCI Taiwan Index would retain a list of 90, with modest changes for the weightings of 21 firms, MSCI said.
MSCI would add 16 Taiwanese stocks to the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes, including smartphone camera lens supplier Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co (先進光電), clean room engineering service provider Acter Group Corp (聖暉), The Ambassador Hotel Ltd (國賓), Central Reinsurance Corp (中央再保險) and power management solution supplier Channel Well Technology Co (僑威科技), it said.
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