Hang Seng includes more mainland companies

Hong Kong’s benchmark stock index has removed two Hong Kong-based companies from its makeup, with plans to replace them with two mainland-based firms, the Wall Street Journal reported. Telecom operator PCCW and infrastructure firm Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings were removed from the Hang Seng Index on Friday, while H-share companies Tencent and Aluminum Corp of China, or Chinalco, will be added to the index from June 10. The addition of the two "red chip" companies is viewed as a sign of mainland firms’ increased importance to the Hong Kong bourse, and of the high expectations for the two companies’ performance, the paper said.