Jio Financial to remain in FTSE indices; to be added to MSCI Global Standard Index on Aug 23

Hours after Reliance Industries Ltd announced that Jio Financial Services will get listed on August 21, the stock will continue to remain in FTSE indices, said FTSE on Friday.

UK's FTSE Russell on Thursday decided to remove JFS from some of its indexes from August 22, saying that the stock has not commenced trading yet. On Thursday, FTSE said the stock of the demerged entity of RIL will be removed from FTSE All-World index, FTSE MPF All-World index, FTSE Global Large Cap index and FTSE Emerging Index with effect from August 22.

Mukesh-Ambani-led RIL had last month spun off JFS, with the stock price set at a much higher-than-expected Rs 261.85, valuing it at around $20 billion in a special trading session. Also, the scrip will be added to MSCI Global Standard Index on August 23.

JFS is part of major Indian indexes, including the benchmark Nifty 50 and some global indexes after its demerger from Reliance Industries, but it cannot be traded until it is listed.

As per recent exchange rules, the stock will be removed from indexes at the end of its third day of listing.

Some analysts expect JFS to debut at a premium.

"There are many passive exchange traded funds which have exposure to the Nifty and Sensex," said Narendra Solanki, head of fundamental research for investment services at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers.

"After three days, when JFS is scheduled to go out of these indexes, we could see some outflows," Solanki added.

Last month, JFS and US-based BlackRock said they would form an equal joint venture to launch asset management services in India, with an initial investment of $150 million each.

Analysts say JFS' access to the vast trove of data from Reliance's telecom and retail businesses will also give it a leg up in lending.

Shares of Reliance Industries reversed losses after the news on JFS' listing date, closing 0.7% higher.

With inputs from Reuters