Taipei, May 18, 2011 (CENS)--In its semi-annual adjustment, Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) downgraded yesterday (May 17) the weighting of Taiwanese stocks in EMF (emerging market free) index and Asia ex-JP index by 0.1 and 0.2 of a percentage point, respectively, to 11.7% and 19.7%.
Analysts estimated that the surprising move may induce NT$4-5 billion of foreign funds to retreat from the local bourse.
During the adjustment, the weighting of mainland Chinese and Indian stocks in EMF rose further, dampening the weighting of Taiwan and South Korea, although the weighting of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand remained unchanged. After the adjustment, Taiwan still ranked third place in EMF, trailing China and South Korea.
Shih Lung-chih, a local fund manager, remarked that the effect of the adjustment will be limited, as evidenced by the modest decline of 27 points of Taiex Index yesterday.
PixArt Technologies and Mitac International were removed from the list of constituent stocks of MSCI global index and transferred to small- and mid-cap index. As a result, share price of PixArt dropped by the daily limit of 7% in mid-session yesterday, while that of Mitac also plunged 4%.
Fifteen Taiwanese stocks were added to the list of constituent stocks of MSCI small- and mid-cap index, including seven listed on the emerging enterprise market, and eight Taiwanese constituent stocks, mostly IC design houses, were removed from the list. The new constituent stocks are mostly in the fields of optics, LED, semiconductor, and smart phone.
Weightings of Hon Hai, Fubon Financial Holding, and ASE Inc. in MSCI global index were downgraded at moderate scale.
The adjustment will take effect after the closing of the Taiwanese stock market on May 31.

The MSCI Taiwan Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to track the equity market performance of Taiwanese securities listed on Taiwan Stock Exchange and GreTai Securities Market. The MSCI Taiwan Total Return Index takes into account both price performance and income from dividend payments. The MSCI Taiwan Index is constructed based on the MSCI Global Investable Market Indices Methodology, targeting a free-float market capitalization coverage of 85%. The index has a base date of December 31, 1987.
Real time codes:

Reuters .TAMSCI   .MSCITW
Bloomberg TAMSCI   MXTW

MSCI China Indices
Reflecting the diversity of the China equity universe

The MSCI China Indices target both international and domestic clients in the China market, including Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors (QDII) and Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) licensees.

The 10 highest and lowest paid jobs - are YOU one of them?
 
The 10 best-paid and worst-paid jobs were identified by the Office for National Statistics recently. And there are a few surprises.
The main point is that the ONS only considered basic salary, not bonuses, so those at the top of the tree who would expect a bonus five times their basic wage have their place a bit skewed.
But still, it's fascinating reading.
The survey shows that the average salary for a full-time employees went up 2.6% to £25,800 in 2009.

Highest paid
1. Directors and chief executives of major organisations.
Average annual salary: £115,576
Job titles include: Chief executive, company director, general manager, managing director (of major organisations).

 
 
Gold Index:
 

John Paulson: Gold Will Rise In Proportion To Bernanke’s Dollar Printing
Apr. 14 2011 - 3:55 pm | 2,355 views | 0 recommendations | 2 comments

Google Misses Estimates, Triggers Sell Off
Apr. 14 2011 - 4:24 pm | By AGUSTINO FONTEVECCHIA

Larry Page's first earnings call since he became CEO- Wikipedia

 

Morning Tech Wrap: Apple, Blackberry, Twitter
Apr. 14 2011 - 5:19 am  By PARMY OLSON

 What are soft dollars?
Soft Dollars