What’s Going On Here?The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) suddenly remembered what a special thing it had with three Chinese telecom giants on Monday, and it backtracked on its plan to delist them altogether. What Does This Mean?It was only last week that the NYSE announced it’d be delisting China Mobile, China Telecom Corp, and China Unicom Hong Kong – three of the 35 companies the US government just banned Americans from investing in. Now, though, the company’s changed its mind. The NYSE didn’t give any specific reason for the U-turn, other than to say it came after “further consultation” with regulators. But there’s been a lot of confusion around what the ban would actually mean for US stock exchanges, so it’s hardly a stretch to think that all the hassle could have something to do with it… Why Should I Care?The bigger picture: Can’t we all just get along?
Investors tracking the NYSE had just started to sell the telecom companies’ shares, but this announcement put a stop to all that: the firms’ stock prices surged after the news broke. The Chinese yuan, meanwhile, jumped versus the US dollar. That's likely because investors are hoping the NYSE’s reversal could be the first sign of easing US-China tensions, which some analysts think could thaw even more when the new US administration comes into power later this month.
Zooming out: Bigger fish to fry.
Trade war or no trade war, China’s stocks are flying: the country’s major stock index – fueled by an economic rebound that’s outpaced every other major economy – reached its highest level in 13 years on Tuesday. And while nervous investors might remember the country’s last major stock market collapse in 2015, there’s one big difference this time around: the Chinese stock market is cheaper by one key measure, giving it much more room to keep climbing. | 