The Taiwan exchange traded fund has been one of the stronger emerging markets ETFs over the past month, with the benchmark Taiwan Stock Exchange Weight Index recently hitting a two-year high as tech sector stocks help power the export-dependent country.
The iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (NYSEArca: EWT) gained 4.2% over the past month, double the performance of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: EEM).
The Taiwanese benchmark index recently broke above 8,700 for the first time in over two years but has since weakened due to the poor China trade data Monday.
Taiwanese stocks have been strengthening as investors, mainly foreign investors, focused on large-cap and high-price electronics stocks, like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Focus Taiwan reported.
“Buying largely came from foreign institutional investors as they raised the number of long position contacts in the futures market,” Concord Securities analyst Kerry Huang said in the article. “The electronics sector remained the favorite of foreign institutional investors and drove the significant gains of the broader market.”
The iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF has a heavy 55.1% allocation to information technology stocks, including a large 21% weight toward Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM).
Additionally, Taiwanese financial stocks are rebounding after dipping on the government’s plan to raise the sales tax. Lawmakers are set to meet on March 12 to review the agreement, Focus Taiwan reported.
“Financial stocks also helped boost the broader market on bargain hunting,” Huang added. “Investors are hoping that the Legislature will soon pass the trade-in-services agreement between Taiwan and China.”
Financials are EWT’s second-largest sector weight, accounting for 17.2% of the ETF.
Foreign investors have also targeted Taiwanese equities due to the country’s account surplus. Taiwan’s trade surplus for February was $1.6 billion, rising a higher-than-expected 7.9% year-over-year, RTT News reports. [EM Account Surplus Trade Yields Mixed Results]
iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF
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