US options traders bet on China MSCI decision

MSCI is set to decide this month whether to include in its benchmarks the shares of companies listed on China’s domestic exchanges. The Wall Street Journal reports U.S. options traders are ramping up bets on the outcome using the biggest exchange-traded fund linked to China. If the MSCI decides to include the stocks, known as A-shares, it would mean foreign money could potentially flow into mainland-traded stocks through funds that track the indexes, potentially sending them higher. On Tuesday, more than 163,000 bearish put options and 108,000 bullish call options were traded on the iShares China Large-Cap ETF. The total of almost 272,000 options is more than double the daily average so far this year, according to data from Trade Alert.