Emerging market stocks have recovered all of their losses from the early stages of the Iran war to hit an all-time high, as a dizzying rally for a handful of Asian chipmaking giants underscores the tech sector’s growing sway over the asset class.
The benchmark MSCI Emerging Market index — a gauge of large companies across 24 developing economies — has climbed more than 15 per cent so far in April to surpass its previous peak in February, outpacing the 10 per cent gain in the S&P 500 index of US blue-chip stocks over the same period.
Almost half of the MSCI EM’s gains this month have come from just three chipmakers that have become central to the AI boom and now make up nearly a quarter of the benchmark: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.