Alibaba expected to join global stock indices
Inclusion in key market indicators may spur tracker funds to buy into e-commerce giant
S&P Dow Jones Indices, one of the world's largest providers of financial market indices, says mainland e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, which is gearing up for a New York listing next Friday, will be eligible for inclusion in its global benchmarks that include Chinese stocks.
Analysts say the move may trigger index tracker funds to buy a stake in the company after its initial public offering.
S&P announced its decision to regard China as Alibaba's country of domicile on Thursday.
On the same day, the US-traded shares of micro-blogging platform Weibo jumped amid speculation of a takeover by Alibaba, which already has an 18 per cent stake.
Analysts said Alibaba's impending inclusion in major indices was not unusual given the mammoth size of its listing.
After a screening process, Alibaba would be eligible for inclusion in the S&P China BMI, S&P Emerging BMI and S&P Global BMI, said S&P Dow Jones Indices, a unit of McGraw-Hill.
Ben Kwong Man-bun, a director of brokerage firm KGI Asia, said Alibaba's inclusion in global benchmarks would deliver a short-term psychological boost, but the Alibaba deal was already well covered by US investors.