MSCI, FTSE Russell cut Chinese telecom firms from global indexes

Global index providers MSCI Inc and FTSE Russell said they would cut three Chinese telecom companies from their benchmarks in response to a U.S. investment ban, crushing the share prices and widening the fallout from the U.S. sanctions.
The deletions add to the suite of firms already cut from world indexes because of the U.S. government ban and it likely requires passive investors, such as index tracking funds, to sell the stocks.
In a statement dated Jan. 7, FTSE Russell said it would delete China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom Hong Kong from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, the FTSE Global China A Inclusion Indexes and associated indexes. MSCI said it would remove them on Jan. 8.
Shares in the firms fell heavily, with China Mobile opening at an almost 15-year low, China Telecom hitting a decade low and China Unicom plumbing a 10-month trough. Losses have since pared, but the stocks remain down between 5% and 8% in morning trade.