GLOBAL equity index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices will include A shares in its global benchmarks next year, the company said, becoming the latest in a string of index providers to include Chinese mainland shares in their major indexes.

S&P Dow Jones Indices will add “eligible China A shares” tradeable through the northbound channel of the Shanghai-Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect facilities to its Global Benchmark Indices on Sept. 23, 2019, the company said in a statement last week.

The shares will be included “using a reduced weight factor of 25 percent of each company’s investable weight factor,” according to the statement.

The announcement of A-share inclusion in S&P Dow Jones’ indexes follows similar moves by index providers MSCI and FTSE Russell.

MSCI began a process of adding roughly 230 Shanghai and Shenzhen-listed shares to its emerging market benchmark in June, and has said it may consider boosting weighting in its indexes next year. FTSE Russell has said it will start including Chinese mainland shares in its major benchmarks from June next year.

China has stepped up opening up of its financial markets this year to offset the impact a bruising trade war with the United States. Capital drawn into China through broader index inclusion could help stabilize its wobbly stock market and reduce pressure on the yuan.

By the end of November, the market value of shares traded via the Shanghai-Hong Kong and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect programs reached 678.7 billion yuan (US$98.3 billion), up 57.9 billion yuan from a month ago, according to China Merchants Securities.

(SD-Agencies)