"The banks can be more aggressive in their expansion plans," said Yang Sy Jian, head of research at UOB-Kay Hian Research Pte in Singapore. "The change will even out the rules of the game and put our local banks on a more level playing field."
The TAIEX rose 1.7 percent, paced by lenders after Fitch Ratings yesterday said the outlook for the banking industry is positive this year, citing "significant improvement in asset quality and profitability in 2003."
First Financial Holding Co (
India's Sensitive Index fell for a fourth day, its longest losing streak in three months.
Tata Power Co, the nation's No. 2 power producer by market value, slumped 7.2 percent to 274.90 rupees. Reliance Energy Ltd, India's biggest, plunged 7.5 percent to 497.75 rupees.
The government said it would extend a June 10 deadline to split their generation and transmission businesses. The government has yet to set a new deadline.
Lenders such as ICICI Bank Ltd, the country's biggest non-state commercial bank, lost 6.9 percent to 246.35 rupees, after the government announced plans to lower interest rates on loans to farmers.
Shares of Yahoo Japan Corp, Shinsei Bank Ltd and SK Corp rose. The three companies are among the 224 companies added to Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc's stock indexes from the close of today.
Yahoo Japan, a unit of the world's most-visited Internet directory, rallied 6.4 percent to ¥1.16 million. Shinsei Bank, which Ripplewood Holdings Inc and other investors bought from the government in 2000, surged 7 percent to 746. The lender today said net income rose 25 percent in its first earnings since it went public in February.
SK Corp, South Korea's biggest oil refiner, advanced 5.5 percent to 50,000 won. Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, Taiwan's second-largest maker of flat-panel displays used in computers, rose 1.4 percent to NT$72.
The changes are part of the global index provider's annual review. MSCI adds or subtracts members to ensure that 85 percent of publicly traded shares available within each industry are included in its country benchmarks.
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