The new additions will increase the number of index members to 82 from 80, index compiler Hang Seng Indexes, a subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank, said in a statement on Friday after the market close. The changes will be effective from December 4, it added.
The additions mark a third consecutive quarter of inclusions to the benchmark. In the last rebalancing in August, mainland Chinese drug maker Sinopharm Group was included, while troubled mainland property developer Country Garden Holdings was removed after becoming a penny stock trading below HK$1.
The Hang Seng Index has been slow to add new members even after the index compiler unveiled a sweeping overhaul in 2021 that will eventually boost the number of constituents to 100 over an unspecified period of time.
The process has been partially disrupted by a three-year decline in the index that has wiped out more than 40 per cent of market value. The gauge has slumped about 10 per cent this year, making it the worst performer among the world’s key markets, as China’s post-pandemic growth decelerates and elevated US interest rates spur foreign fund outflows from Hong Kong.
Shares of Li Auto rose 3.2 per cent to HK$157.10 on Friday before the quarterly review was announced, and have gained 104.6 per cent year-to-date. WuXi Apptec slipped 0.6 per cent to HK$93.10 at the market close, and has increased 12.9 per cent so far this year.
Foreign companies with Hong Kong as their primary listing venue, such as Italian luxury goods maker Prada and US luggage firm Samsonite International, could be added to the Hang Seng Index in the next quarterly review. Hang Seng Indexes gave the go-head for the addition of such stocks in July following a two-month public consultation.
As part of the latest review of the Hang Seng family of indexes, there were no changes to the 50-member Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies trading in Hong Kong, the statement said.
The Hang Seng Index, which was launched in 1969, has a market capitalisation of HK$11.1 trillion (US$1.4 trillion). Hong Kong’s stock market is the third-largest in Asia with a capitalisation of US$4.9 trillion, behind China’s capitalisation of US$9.7 trillion and Japan’s US$5.8 trillion, according to Bloomberg data.
The Hang Seng family of indexes was tracked by passively-managed funds with US$57.6 billion of assets under management globally as of the end of last year, according to the index compiler.
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