Asia ETF Gains $500 Billion in One Day: What Happened?

iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan (iShares Trust MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF: AAXJ) closed at $97.67 on the Nasdaq on the 25th, up 1.04%. Trading volume totaled 2,139,503 shares, and its market capitalization reached about $3.6 billion (approximately ₩4.7 trillion), rising by roughly $38 million (around ₩50 billion) in a single day.

This ETF, which tracks the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index, has continued to deliver favorable medium- to long-term performance, reflecting the strength of its major holdings—including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), China’s Tencent and Alibaba, and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics. ()

Recently, “buy signal” posts for AAXJ have proliferated in overseas investment communities, signaling growing interest in short-term trend following since February and March of this year. ()

Launched in 2008, AAXJ is a passive ETF by BlackRock’s iShares that invests in large- and mid-cap stocks across developed and emerging Asian markets excluding Japan, directly tracking the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index. Its top holdings include TSMC, Tencent, Alibaba, Samsung Electronics, and India’s HDFC Bank, making it a key vehicle for regional diversification in Asian IT and major financial stocks. ()