Global index provider MSCI Inc yesterday announced that it would raise Taiwan’s weighting in two of its major indices and trim it in another one following a quarterly index review.
The company would increase Taiwan’s weighting by 0.01 percentage points to 1.74 percent in the MSCI All Country World Index and by 0.03 percentage points to 19.95 percent in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index.
It would trim Taiwan’s proportion by 0.02 percentage points to 17.7 percent in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
Photo: CNA
The tweaks, which would take effect at the end of the trading session on May 31, seek to capture the latest pulse of the markets, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement.
MSCI said it would add fast-growing cooling solutions provider Asia Vital Components Co (奇鋐科技) and electric machinery supplier Fortune Electric Corp (華城電機) to its basket of local shares, but ditch Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電), display chip supplier Parade Technologies Ltd (譜瑞) and Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board Corp (南亞電路板).
The three have lagged behind the TAIEX due to their lackluster business outlooks.
By contrast, shares in Asia Vital and Fortune Electric would draw more attention and climb higher on the back of fund inflows, analysts said.
The changes aim to reflect the local bourse and Taiwanese corporations, the exchange said.
The TAIEX yesterday closed up 0.77 percent at a record 21,147.21, as capital funds at home and abroad picked up local technology shares to take advantage of booming artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest suppliers of advanced chips, high-end servers, storage and memory devices used in AI infrastructure and applications.
Foreign institutional players yesterday bought a net NT$26.69 billion (US$826 million) of local shares, while mutual funds increased their stakes by another NT$1.8 billion, although proprietary traders cut their holdings by NT$149 million, exchange data showed.
MSCI said that it would lower the weighting of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) by 0.2 percentage points to 47.77 percent given its steep rally this year.
Shares of the sole chipmaker for Apple Inc’s iPhone series and Nvidia Corp’s AI chips yesterday rose 1.69 percent to NT$839, exchange data showed.
Shares in the Hsinchu-based firm have risen 41.48 percent so far this year, underpinning 60 percent of the TAIEX’s gain, data showed.
MSCI is also to add property developers Yungshin Construction and Development Co (永信建) and Crowell Development Corp (皇普), real estate agency Hiyes International Co (海悅) and elevator maker Golden Friends Corp (崇友實業) to its small-cap basket.
The move comes after the local market’s capitalization spiked 17 percent to NT$6.64 trillion as of Monday from NT$5.68 trillion at the end of last year, the Financial Supervisory Commission said.
That suggested an average of NT$745,000 in capital gains for 12.78 million individual investors in Taiwan, the commission said.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS