Hang Seng

The Hang Seng Index is used to measure and monitor the largest companies in the Hong Kong stock market. The 45 companies tracked in the Hang Seng represent about 67 percent of the capitalization of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The Hang Seng Index was started in November 1969. It is a free-float adjusted market capitalization weighted stock market index. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank, the largest bank registered and listed in Hong Kong in terms of market cap.

There are four sub-indices established to clarify the Hang Seng: finance, utilities, properties, and commerce and industry. Organizers of the fund have said they plan to increase the number of stocks in the fund to 50 to reflect the changes in the stock market and maintain a representative benchmark. No date was established for the expansion of the index.

To be included in the index, a company must be among those that comprise the top 90 percent of the total market value of all ordinary shares. It must be among those that make up 90 percent of the total turnover on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It should have a listing history of at least 24 months.

Included in the finance subsector are: HSBC Holdings, Hang Seng Bank, Bank of East Asia, HKEx Limited, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (the largest stock in the index), Ping An Insurance, BOC Hong Kong Holdings, China Life, Bank of Communications, Bank of China.

Included in the utilities subsector are: CLP Holdings, Hong Kong and China Gas, and Hong Kong Electric Holdings.

Included in the properties subsector are: Cheun Kong, Henderson Land Development, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Sino Land Company, Hang Lung Properties, China Overseas Land and Investment Limited.

Include in the commerce and industry subsector are: Wharf Holdings, Hutchison Whampoa, New World Development, Swire Pacific, MTR Corporation, China Merchants Holdings, CITIC Pacific, China Resources Enterprise, Cathay Pacific Airways, Esprit Holdings, Sinopec Corporation, Li and Fung, Yue Yuen Industrials, Tencent Holdings, China Unicom, PetroChina, CNOOC, China Mobile, China Shenhua Energy, COSCO Pacific, Foxconn International, Aluminum Corporation of China.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is Asia's third-largest in terms of market capitalization, behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It was officially established in 1891. Computers were integrated into the exchange in 1986, with automatic order matching and execution system coming along in 1993. A third generation of computer system was debuted in 2000.

The trading day includes a morning and an afternoon session, with a two-hour lunch break between.

Hang Seng Articles - by BetterTrades