What’s more shocking? Kicking out Chinese companies listed in the U.S., or a sudden U-turn from one of America’s biggest stock exchanges on its plan to do so? The final days of the Trump administration won’t be boring.
The New York Stock Exchange said late Monday that it no longer intends to move forward with the delisting of China’s three state-owned telecom operators. The terse statement came just days after the bourse announced it would start the procedure, citing an executive order issued in November preventing Americans from investing in companies with Chinese military ties.
This sudden change of heart caught traders off-guard. The universal first read at various equity-trading and sales desks in Hong Kong was shock and befuddlement. Investors nonetheless saw this as a bullish signal. Shares of the three companies — China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. — surged, while the offshore yuan, sensitive to ties between Washington and Beijing, pushed even higher.