In Singapore, the easiest way to gain exposure to China is to buy into either the Lion-OCBC Securities China Leaders ETF, which represents the Hang Seng Stock Connect China 80 Index, or the Lion-OCBC Hang Seng Tech Index. Both indices comprise largely of mainland stocks. Last August, stocks such as Longfor, a developer, Midea Group, Energy Technology, and Zhifei Biological Products were replaced by SMIC, Sungrow Power Supply, China Three Gorges Renewables and Beijing Shanghai High Speed Railway in the China Stock Connect 80 Index.
The Hang Seng Index (HSI) rose by 1,729 points between Jan 22 and Feb 27, representing a Lunar New Year rally of sorts. It has since eased. Will this rally have legs?
While Hong Kong’s interest rate regime is impacted by flow-throughs from the Federal Reserve because of its currency board, the HSI is weighted heavily in favour of China. Hong Kong. Based on data compiled by the Hong Kong Exchange, around 33% of the stocks in the index are Hong Kong companies. Even then, the likes of HSBC and AIA have businesses in China.
