SSE 380 Index, a brand-new emerging blue-chip index, was officially released today. Featured in great growth potential, emerging industry and blue chips, the index will join with SSE 180 Index and SSE 50 Index in constituting the major blue-chip indices on Shanghai market.
According to an official from the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), twenty years ago, there were only eight companies listed on the SSE. Now, the number has climbed to 890, with a total market capitalization of RMB19 trillion. The past two decades witnessed the formation of a multi-layer capital market made up of blue-chip enterprises in SSE 50 Index and SSE 180 Index and boasting joint growth of small, medium and large sized companies. Take SSE 180 as an example, the number, market capitalization and turnover of SSE 180 Index constituents account for 20%, 73% and 55% of that of all SSE-listed companies, respectively. However, except those in SSE 180 Index, there are over 700 firms listed on Shanghai market, which represent 80% of the total number of SSE-listed companies and 45% of the turnover. Some of them are emerging blue-chip companies with great growth potential, strong profitability and distinct industrial advantage. Thus, the SSE and China Securities Index Co., Ltd. (CSI) decided to release the SSE 380 Index to echo the SSE's development strategy for blue-chip market, better reflect the market structure and its change, and diversify the SSE index system.
The SSE 380 Index, consisting of top 380 companies in terms of their size, liquidity, growth potential and profitability excluding those in SSE 180 Index, is positioned as an emerging blue-chip index enjoying good growth prospect and aims to mirror the overall performance of an array of medium-sized emerging blue-chip companies with great growth potential and strong profitability.
According to the index compilation scheme, different from the SSE 180 Index which focuses on traditional big-cap blue chips in finance, energy, material and industry sectors, the SSE 380 Index puts its spotlight on emerging growing blue chips to reflect the overall performance of a group of medium-sized listed companies with great growth potential and strong profitability which are not traditional blue chips.
Most of these companies are in their rapid growth phase or early part of maturity stage and in energy-saving and environmental protection, new-generation information technology, biology, state-of-the-art equipment, new energy, new material and other emerging industries and consumption sectors. As they indicate the strategic direction of national economic development and the direction of economic restructuring, they are usually called emerging blue-chip companies.
The latest statistics show that the total and free float market capitalization and daily average trading volume of the SSE 380 Index constituents have reached RMB3.10 trillion, RMB1.61 trillion and RMB48.7 billion, accounting for 17.12%, 26.69% and 33.2% of the total of all SSE-listed stocks, respectively. It is well proven that the constituents of SSE 380 Index can stand for the SSE-listed companies excluding those in SSE 180 Index.
Quite a few institutional investors, looking forward to welcoming the SSE 380 Index, hold that the introduction of SSE 380 Index would boost the development of relevant financial products and provide substantial support to the development of exchange traded funds (ETFs).