Alibaba launches China's first e-commerce based stock index

Alibaba Group Holding's finance arm launched on Thursday an index that tracks e-commerce activities to gauge firms' performance, marrying the China internet shopping giant's data troves with its financial services aspirations.

The CSI Taojin Big Data 100 Index, the first in China to tap e-commerce data, is composed of 100 stocks in sectors such as household durables, textiles and apparel, food and hospitality, said Ant Financial Services Group in a statement.

The index "weighs industries according to the growth in online transactions, price levels and the supply-demand situation in China", said Ant. It "relies on timely quantitative online payment and transaction data rather than quarterly earnings to provide investors accurate and up-to-date information," the statement said.

Alibaba and Ant have big ambitions for financial services in China, which have traditionally been geared towards larger and state-owned businesses and neglected individuals and smaller enterprises.

The index's launch is a step towards building a full-fledged internet finance platform, which Ant says will open up services like banking, loans and credit, insurance, payment systems and investment to new tiers of Chinese society.

Alibaba is China's biggest e-commerce company, while Alipay, operated by Ant, is the country's dominant online payment platform. Analysts say this gives Alibaba what is possibly China's best data on consumers' and small businesses' finance.