Close to 230 China A-shares appeared on index provider MSCI’s emerging markets benchmark Friday. The partial inclusion of the A-shares, or yuan-denominated stocks traded on mainland stock exchanges, to MSCI’s widely observed Emerging Markets Index will take place in two phases, with the second phase coming in August, CNBC reports.
Once the A-shares are included, China country weight in the index, which currently includes shares of Hong Kong-listed Chinese company stocks, will stand at 31.3 percent. Full inclusion would make A-shares account for 16% of the EM index and push China to 42% of the benchmark.
To put this in perspective, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: EEM), which follows the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index, holds 33.1% China as of June 1.
However, MSCI’s actions failed to instigate traders Friday as greater China markets slipped, with the Shanghai composite down 0.5% and the smaller Shenzhen composite 0.9% lower while the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 0.2%.
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