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
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
It is challenging to build infrastructure in much of Europe. Constrained budgets and polarized politics tend to undermine long-term projects, forcing officials to react to emergencies rather than plan for the future. Not in Austria. Today, the country is to officially open its Koralmbahn tunnel, the 5.9 billion euro (US$6.9 billion) centerpiece of a groundbreaking new railway that will eventually run from Poland’s Baltic coast to the Adriatic Sea, transforming travel within Austria and positioning the Alpine nation at the forefront of logistics in Europe. “It is Austria’s biggest socio-economic experiment in over a century,” said Eric Kirschner, an economist at Graz-based Joanneum
OPTION: Uber said it could provide higher pay for batch trips, if incentives for batching is not removed entirely, as the latter would force it to pass on the costs to consumers Uber Technologies Inc yesterday warned that proposed restrictions on batching orders and minimum wages could prompt a NT$20 delivery fee increase in Taiwan, as lower efficiency would drive up costs. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made the remarks yesterday during his visit to Taiwan. He is on a multileg trip to the region, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. His visit coincided the release last month of the Ministry of Labor’s draft bill on the delivery sector, which aims to safeguard delivery workers’ rights and improve their welfare. The ministry set the minimum pay for local food delivery drivers at