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| EcoProBM's plant in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of EcoProBM |
By Kim Bo-eun
EcoProBM's share price rose to an all-time high, Tuesday, as the battery material maker is expected to join the MSCI Korea Index in its quarterly review slated for Aug. 12.
The top firm in the local cathode materials manufacturing market saw its stock price close at 292,800 won on Tuesday, up 2.2 percent from the previous day's close. EcoProBM also saw its share price surpass 300,000 won for the first time during intra-day trading.
EcoProBM supplies cathode materials to electric vehicle battery makers. Its stock price has risen by more than 40 percent in the past month, as it has aggressively expanded production facilities, as demand grows for EV batteries.
EcoProBM is expected to join the MSCI Korea Index after satisfying the requirements, as its market cap grew to the second-largest among the firms on Korea's secondary KOSDAQ bourse.
Inclusion in the index is set further to boost EcoProBM's stock price. NH Investment & Securities projected that EcoProBM joining the MSCI Korea Index will lead to an influx of 104.1 billion won in funds.
Kakao Games, along with SK Innovation's battery materials affiliate, SKIET, are also potential candidates to join the MSCI Korea Index, according to analysts.
Meanwhile, SK Telecom's (SKT) weighting on the index is set to be cut by 25 percent, following a treasury stock cancellation in May and a resulting rise in the proportion of foreign ownership. SKT earlier cancelled almost the entirety of its treasury shares, worth 2.6 trillion won.
Analysts projected the telecom firm's stock to see short-term adjustments, accordingly.
"We project that the rebalancing sell-off will reach 916.4 billion won," Yuanta Securities analyst Choi Nam-kon said. "If the 900 billion-won sell-off materializes, a short-term stock price adjustment will be inevitable."
The MSCI Korea Index measures the performance of the large- and mid-cap segments of the local market. The index is reviewed quarterly ― in February, May, August and November ― with the objective of reflecting changes in the underlying equity markets. During the May and November semi-annual index reviews, the index is rebalanced, and the large- and mid-capitalization cutoff points are recalculated.
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