Alibaba’s Hong Kong shares get fast entry into Hang Seng Composite Index in boon for city’s stock market trading indicator
- Alibaba’s Hong Kong shares, trading under the stock code 9988, will be included in the Hang Seng Composite Index on December 9
- The Hangzhou-based technology giant is admitted less than two weeks after its secondary listing because it qualifies under a fast entry rule, Hang Seng said
Alibaba Group Holding’s shares will be admitted into a broad version of Hong Kong’s benchmark stock index on December 9, less than two weeks after raising U$13 billion on the city’s bourse in the world’s largest initial public offering.
Alibaba’s Hong Kong shares, trading under the stock code 9988, qualify for the fast entry rule for admission into the Hang Seng Composite Index, according to a statement by Hang Seng Indexes Company. The index, with more than 400 constituents, covers 90 per cent of the capitalisation on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Shares of Hangzhou-based Alibaba, which owns South China Morning Post, this week began trading after the technology giant sold 575 million new shares to raise HK$101.2 billion (US$12.9 billion). The IPO surpassed Uber Technologies’ US$8.1 billion offering in May, and is the largest fundraising in Hong Kong’s financial history since insurer AIA’s HK$159 billion raised in 2010.
Alibaba’s shares rose 3 per cent to HK$193.20 yesterday, extending a 6.6 per cent gain during its trading debut on Tuesday. Alibaba offered its stock at HK$176 per share.
For now, Alibaba’s shares are excluded from Hong Kong’s Stock Connect cross-border investment channels with the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, which allows China-based investors to trade in offshore equities. As Alibaba’s shares are listed in Hong Kong as a secondary listing, its admission into the Connect programme would be a precedent.
