NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nasdaq’s late-night rebalancing of its benchmark Nasdaq-100 Index spurred a selloff in Apple shares and surprised U.S. fund managers who questioned the timing of the announcement.
The rebalancing is not an unusual event, but the Nasdaq announced it at around 3 a.m. (0700 GMT), making early trading more volatile.
“It’s surprising and unsettling that the Nasdaq would release this information in the middle of the night, let alone at this moment in the calendar — right ahead of earnings season,” said Keith Wirtz, president and chief investment officer at Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Nasdaq OMX will cut the weight of 82 securities to bring them more in line with their market capitalizations, the exchange said.
The news knocked lower shares of Apple while it boosted shares of Microsoft Corp and was one reason for a fall in Nasdaq futures before the opening bell.
By far, Apple will be the most affected by the move, with its weighting slashed from 20.5 percent to 12.3 percent, though it will remain the largest component of the index. Shares of Apple, which has a market cap of roughly $314 billion, fell 0.4 percent to $339.91.
John Jacobs, executive vice president in Nasdaq’s global
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