Economics

Tech Overthrows Financials as King of Emerging Markets

  • Proportion of tech stocks in MSCI EM index climbs to 24%
  • Financials lose top ranking among sectors on developing gauge

An employee tests the cameras of smartphones at a manufacturing facility in Dongguan, China.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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The rally in technology stocks may have more room to run after the industry overthrew financials as the main driver of emerging market shares last quarter.

Firms from South Korean phone makers to China’s biggest internet company helped drive a 17 percent surge in technology shares in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in the first quarter, the best showing in five years. That pushed up their weight to 24 percent, surpassing financial shares in the index for the first time since 2004.