SHANGHAI: FTSE Russell said Didi Global Inc will be added to its global equity indexes on July 8, but not if trading in the Chinese ride-hailing company’s shares is halted during U.S. market hours on Wednesday. Following the Chinese company’s US$4.4 billion IPO on the New York Stock Exchange last week, FTSE Russell announced earlier this month that Didi will be included in the FTSE All-World Index, the FTSE Global Large Cap Index, and the FTSE Emerging Index in an expedited entry.
However, Didi and its investors have been in turmoil since Chinese officials initiated a crackdown on the business late last week. Its stock fell in U.S. trading on Tuesday, the first day after Chinese officials ordered the company’s app to be removed. “In the event that Didi Global ADS trading is suspended during US market hours on Wednesday, FTSE Russell will not proceed with the quick entry addition and will monitor, in accordance with the index policy for trading halts and market closures,” the company stated in a statement on its website. It wasn’t immediately obvious why FTSE Russell mentioned the possibility of a Didi trading halt. The index publisher, whose indexes are used to benchmark trillions of dollars in assets, could not be reached for comment right away.
(Samuel Shen and Andrew Galbraith contributed reporting; Muralikumar Anantharaman edited the piece.)/n
