MSCI hikes Taiwan's weighting in one index but reduce it in another

Taipei, Nov. 8 (CNA) MSCI Inc., a global index provider, has raised Taiwan's weighting in one of its major indexes but cut the country's weighting in another index after a regular review.

In a statement released on Thursday Taipei time, MSCI said it has upgraded Taiwan's weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index by 0.01 percentage points to 1.94 percent while downgrading Taiwan's weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index by 0.03 percentage points to 21.25 percent.

Meanwhile, MSCI has decided to leave unchanged Taiwan's weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is closely watched by foreign institutional investors, at 18.70 percent.

MSCI index reviews are conducted in February, May, August and November each year, with indexes in U.S. dollar terms provided to professional investors to help guide their portfolio adjustments.

The latest index adjustments are scheduled to take effect after the market closes on Nov. 25.

After the latest index review, India and Sweden received the largest index hike of 0.06 percentage points in the MSCI All-Country World Index, while Japan saw its weighting fall the most in that index, by 0.06 percentage points.

According to MSCI, the index adjustments of other countries appeared minor.

In addition to the changes in the MSCI indexes, the index provider also added International Games System Co., a Taiwanese game software developer, and Jentech Precision Industrial Co., a Taiwan-based metal stamping services provider, to the MSCI Global Standard Indexes.

The inclusion of the two stocks largely reflected the gains in their share prices in recent sessions, analysts said.

Before Friday, shares of International Games System had soared more than 39 percent on the over-the-counter market since the beginning of August, while shares of Jentech Precision had also surged about 30.60 percent on Taiwan's main stock exchange.

MSCI also decided to remove dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip supplier Winbond Electronics Corp. from the MSCI Global Standard Indexes but add it to the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes.

Meanwhile, MSCI has decided to add 10 additional Taiwanese stocks to the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes, including machinery brand All Ring Tech Co., high-precision planetary gearbox provider Apex Dynamics Inc., and semiconductor material supplier Daxin Materials Corp.

They also included optical interface developer EZconn Corp., semiconductor inspection equipment maker Gallant Precision Machining Co., and optoelectronic lead frame producer I-Chiun Precision Industry Co.

MSCI has also removed 23 Taiwanese stocks from the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes, including vaccine brand Adimmune Corp., radio frequency front-end devices and module maker Advanced Ceramic X Corp., drug developer Alar Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Asia Polymer Corp.

They also included dumpling brand Bafang Yunji International Co., flexible printed circuit board maker Career Technology (MFG.) Co., and skincare product provider Chlitina Holding Ltd.

After the index review, the number of the constituents of the MSCI Taiwan Index rose to 88 from 87, according to the index provider.

In the MSCI Taiwan Index, International Game System saw its weighting increase by 0.53 percentage points, the largest hike among the index's 88 constituents, while the weighting of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was reduced by 0.39 percentage points, the steepest cut, to 52.48 percent.