Global index provider MSCI Inc has raised Taiwan’s weighting in one of its major indices, but left the country’s weighting in two others unchanged.
MSCI yesterday said in a statement that following a quarterly review, it increased Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index by 0.03 percentage points to 15.79 percent, while maintaining its weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the MSCI All-Country World Index at 13.97 percent and 1.62 percent respectively.
As for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is closely watched by foreign institutional investors, China was subject to the largest weighting upgrade of 0.09 percentage points, followed by Thailand’s 0.05 percentage point upgrade, the index provider said.
In the MSCI Taiwan Index, the number of constituents remained at 88, while the provider changed the weighting of 21 firms.
Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華), a leading wire and cable maker, was subject to the largest upgrade of 0.01 percentage points to 0.43 percent, while China Development Financial Holding Co’s (中華開發金控) weighting was cut by 0.01 percentage points, the steepest reduction, to 0.69 percent.
No Taiwanese stocks were added to or removed from the MSCI Global Standard Indexes after the quarterly adjustments.
Before the MSCI statement, market watchers had high hopes that Global Unichip Corp (創意), an application-specific IC designer owned by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), would be included in the MSCI Global Standard Indexes, pushing the stock higher in the past few trading sessions.
Unichip shares fell 1.09 percent after the announcement to close at NT$910.00 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, while the TAIEX closed down 0.08 percent at 15,586.65.
MSCI added 10 Taiwanese stocks to the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes and removed no stocks from them.
The 10 stocks added are yacht maker Alexander Marine Co (東哥), dumpling brand Bafang Yunji International Co (八方雲集), steel supplier Gloria Material Technology Corp (榮鋼), nylon air textured yarn provider Jinan Acetate Chemical Co (濟南大自然新材料) and machinery producer Kaori Heat Treatment Co (高力), IC patent portfolio owner M31 Technology Corp (円星科技), solar energy developer Shinfox Energy Co (森威能源), medical equipment supplier Synmosa Biopharma Corp (健喬信元醫藥生技), contact lens brand Visco Vision Inc (視陽) and wireless communications device maker Vivotek Inc (晶睿).
After the statement, M31 shares traded as high as NT$644.00, but fell 4.49 percent to close at NT$595.00 on profit-taking on the over-the-counter market, for which the index closed down 0.95 percent at 200.42.
The adjustments are to take effect after markets close on Feb. 24, MSCI said.
MSCI index reviews are conducted in February, May, August and November each year.
DOWNTURN FORECAST: Revenue grew to NT$200.05 billion last month, making it TSMC’s best January ever, but revenue could dip by up to 16 percent this quarter Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported annual revenue growth of 16.2 percent to NT$200.05 billion (US$6.64 billion) last month, indicating that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker and a sole chip supplier for iPhones was unfazed by quarters-long supply chain inventor
LOCAL INNOVATION: Hon Hai was not among the top 10 local patent applicants, because the company assigns its research and development in the US and Japan Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, took the top spot among patent applicants in the country for the seventh consecutive year last year, the Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Friday.TSMC last year filed 1,5
QUICK REVERSAL: The move sent the chipmaker’s share price down 3.67 percent, after the billionaire investor’s company in October disclosed a major TSMC stake Warren Buffett slashed his holding of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) just months after disclosing a major stake, an unusually quick reversal by the billionaire investor that is chilling investor sentiment toward the chip giant.Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc cut its holding of TS
TSMC MEETING: The US lawmakers said the visit is not meant to provoke China, but to deepen cooperation in economic and political matters, as cross-party talks are planned The US and Taiwan should increase cooperation in manufacturing and innovation to benefit the world, a visiting US delegation said after meeting with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday.US representatives Ro Khanna, Jake Auchincloss, Jonathan Jackson
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, yesterday said that small-volume production of 3-nanometer (nm) chips for a key customer is on track to start by the end of this year, dismissing speculation about delays in producing advanced chips. As Alchip is transitioning from 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technology to 3 nanometers, investors and shareholders have been closely monitoring whether the company is navigating through such transition smoothly. “We are proceeding well in [building] this generation [of chips]. It appears to me that no revision will be required. We have achieved success in designing
PROJECTION: KGI Financial said that based on its foreign exchange exposure, a NT$0.1 increase in the New Taiwan dollar would negatively impact it by about NT$1.7 billion KGI Financial Holding Co (凱基金控) yesterday said its life insurance arm has increased hedging and adopted other moves to curb the impact of the local currency’s appreciation on its profitability. “It is difficult to accurately depict the hedging costs, which might vary from 7 percent to 40 percent in a single day,” KGI Life Insurance Co (凱基人壽) told an investors’ conference in Taipei. KGI Life, which underpinned 66 percent of the group’s total net income last year, has elevated hedging to 55 to 60 percent, while using a basket of currencies to manage currency volatility, the insurer said. As different
Taiwanese insurers are facing difficult questions about the damage of recent swings in the New Taiwan dollar. Regulators might have a partial solution: letting firms change how they calculate the value of foreign currency assets. The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is considering allowing insurers to use six-month average exchange rates when they calculate risk-based capital in their semiannual reports, a shift from the current system where insurers use exchange rates on the final day of reporting. The change could ease pressure on the US$1.2 trillion insurance sector, whose huge exposure to foreign assets came into the spotlight earlier this month after a
RSS