Global index provider MSCI Inc announced yesterday it would raise Taiwan’s weighting in two of its major indices and hold it steady in a third index following a quarterly index review.
The heavily tracked passive index funds would grow Taiwan’s weighting in its MSCI Emerging Markets Index by 0.01 percentage points to 15.97 percent and increase it by 0.05 percentage points in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index to 18.75 percent. It would keep Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All Country World Index unchanged at 1.6 percent.
The tweaks, which are to be put into practice at the end of the trading session on Feb. 29, might bring liquidity into the local bourse, Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement.
Foreign institutional investors recently increased holdings in local shares, especially AI-concept plays, before the local bourse closed on Monday last week 5 to observe the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, it said.
However, passive investment funds in general take the closing price as the principle of trading to reduce tracking errors and volatility usually becomes evident when the adjustments are taking place, it said.
That means more funds could flow to the TAIEX when it resumes trading today after a 21.18 percent jump in the Year of the Rabbit to 18,096.07 points, the first time it had ended a lunar year above 18,000.
Foreign players, mutual funds and proprietary traders built up positions by a net NT$116.35 billion (US$3.71 billion), in line with the global pursuit of AI investments. Taiwan is home to contract makers of high-performance computing chips and AI servers.
The MSCI All-Country World Index, which captures large and medium stocks across 23 developed markets and 24 emerging markets, is to ditch Momo.com Inc (富邦媒), a Taiwanese online, TV and catalog shopping company, and keep other local constituents.
The index covers approximately 85 percent of the global investable equity opportunity set. It would give India a noticeable uptick and China a downgrade as a result of the latest review.
Small-cap network and communications chip supplier Airoha Technology Corp (達發科技), uninterruptible power gear maker Allis Electric Co (亞力電機), hinge designer Fositek Corp (富世達), ShunSin Technology Holdings (訊芯-KY), Grand Process Technology Corp (弘塑科技) and Diamond Biofund Inc (鑽石生技) would make the MSCI ACWI Small-Cap Index.
Stock indices shed considerable light on a market’s health and vigor while reflecting the performance of individual sectors and firms, TWSE said, adding that it would help promote the visibility of local shares on the world stage.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San