New York Stock Exchange scraps plan to delist China’s three telecoms stocks in surprise U-turn that whipsaws investors

China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom had been set to delist from the NYSE as soon as Thursday

Jefferies’ head of telecoms research Edison Lee described the NYSE’s original delisting decision “bizarre”

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Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on January 21, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:17am, 5 Jan 2021Updated: 11:52pm, 5 Jan 2021

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said it would no longer delist three of China’s biggest telecommunications companies to comply with a November 2020 executive order by outgoing US President Donald Trump, in a surprise policy U-turn before the first delisting takes effect.

Shares of the three companies – China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom (Hong Kong) – soared in Hong Kong after the NYSE’s announcement.

The NYSE had announced the delisting plan on New Year’s Day, in an unprecedented step to remove the American Depositary Shares (ADS) of the three Chinese companies to comply with Trump’s order that bars American investors from trading in companies with ties to China’s military. All three companies are state-owned entities managed by government-appointed managers.

The NYSE reversed its delisting decision after “further consultation” with regulatory authorities, according to a market notice on Tuesday, without elaborating. The NYSE did not respond to a request for comment after US office hours.

Unicom’s shares jumped 8.5 per cent to a seven-week high of HK$4.85, while China Telecom advanced by 3.4 per cent to HK$2.16. Shares of China Mobile, the operator of the world’s largest cellular phone network, rose 5.1 per cent to HK$46.10 after making their biggest intraday gain in nearly 10 months.

China Mobile said it would take steps to protect the “lawful rights” of the company and its holders after the NYSE moved to delist the company. Photo: AP