Hong Kong’s equity benchmark may add more health-care and electric vehicle stocks at the upcoming quarterly shuffle, although the 80-member target is likely to stay elusive in this round of review.
(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong’s equity benchmark may add more health-care and electric vehicle stocks at the upcoming quarterly shuffle, although the 80-member target is likely to stay elusive in this round of review.
Drug store operator JD Health International Inc. and EV maker Li Auto Inc. are among the potential candidates for inclusion in the Hang Seng Index, according to analysts. Hang Seng Indexes Co. will announce the results of its review Friday.
Health-care and consumer stocks remain underrepresented in the 76-member benchmark, despite the index compiler’s bid to embrace the new economy in its gauges. The company had planned to increase HSI constituents to 80 by mid-2022, but it hasn’t set a new deadline after failing to reach that goal in previous reviews.
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JD Health, which returned to profit last year, could fill the gap in the health-care group, Smartkarma analyst Brian Freitas wrote in an April note. The addition of a “large and liquid” stock like Li Auto would also expand the index’s coverage of EVs, although losses in 2022 may be a deterrent, according to Freitas. The firm posted a turnaround in the first quarter after record deliveries helped it almost double revenue.
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While the index committee has been fixated on adding profitable companies, it will have to start adding unprofitable firms at some point as they may be too big to ignore and the gauge may lack representation in some groups, he wrote.
To be sure, the results of the review may differ from market expectations. Earlier projections for Kuaishou Technology and JD Health to join the index have yet to materialize, wrote CICC analysts including Liu Gang in a note. CICC still favors the two companies, along with Nio Inc., Li Auto, and Trip.com Group Ltd., for inclusion in the measure, they wrote.
READ: JD Health May Join Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index in 80-Member Push
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.1% on Thursday as a series of disappointing economic data from China kept a lid on market sentiment.
–With assistance from John Cheng and Jeanny Yu.
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