In today’s briefing:
- Nikkei 225 Index Rebalance Preview (Mar 2025): SHIFT Splits; Updated Ranking, Capping & Funding
- Tsuruha (3391) – Welcia (3141) Future Merger Ratio – Pounding the Table
- Guotai Junan/Haitong Sec Merger: The Many Index Flows Around the Corner
- Fast Retailing (9983) Capping Decision This Week – Single or Double Dose?
- China National Building Material (3323 HK): H Share Buyback Vote on 19 February
- Indian Renewable Energy (IREDA IN) QIP: Index Implications
- TOPIX Index Upweights: An Early Preview Of “The Big April Basket” 2025
- CNBM (3323 HK): This Is An “Avoid” Ahead Of 19th Feb H-Class Shareholder Vote
- PCOMP Index Rebalance: AREIT, CBC to Replace NIKL, WLCON
- Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | Dec & Q424 Numbers | Airlines Outperform Trip.com (January 2025)

Nikkei 225 Index Rebalance Preview (Mar 2025): SHIFT Splits; Updated Ranking, Capping & Funding
- The review period for the Nikkei 225 Index March rebalance ends in 3 weeks. There could be one outright change and one or two others driven by sector balance.
- Shift Inc (3697 JP) will have a 15:1 stock split next week and that puts the stock in the list of potential inclusions over the next couple of rebalances.
- The recent drop in Fast Retailing (9983 JP)‘s stock price will lead to a single step drop in the PAF. That means less passive selling and a smaller funding buy.
Tsuruha (3391) – Welcia (3141) Future Merger Ratio – Pounding the Table
- In late December, a Jiji article said Tsuruha & Welcia would look to integrate by end-2025, now that they no longer need SEC approval. Odd language, but we’ll take it.
- That means we look to what might happen between here and there. The companies will hire Legal and Financial Advisors, wait until both report FY, then start negotiating.
- What has been the long-term trend and the trend of the last two years is different. It’s worthwhile looking at valuations and expectations to decide how to trade. It’s good.
Guotai Junan/Haitong Sec Merger: The Many Index Flows Around the Corner
- Haitong Securities (H) (6837 HK) and Haitong Securities (A) (600837 CH) shares will stop trading after 5 February following the merger with Guotai Junan Securities (2611 HK).
- There will be small buying in Guotai Junan Securities (2611 HK) at the close on 5 February and there should be more buying in the A-shares and H-shares in March.
- There will also be a stock added to the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300 INDEX) to bring the number of index constituents back to 300.
Fast Retailing (9983) Capping Decision This Week – Single or Double Dose?
- Unless Fast Retailing (9983) underperforms Nikkei 225 by 10% by Friday close, there will be a capping exercise at the next Nikkei 225 Rebalance at the end of March 2025.
- The evolution of tech stock movement in Japan in the next day or three is important to watch. There will be effects.
- The setup very near-term could be pretty interesting, and worth watching.
China National Building Material (3323 HK): H Share Buyback Vote on 19 February
- The IFA opines that the China National Building Material (3323 HK) share buyback, which will acquire a maximum of 841.7 million H Shares at HK$4.03, is fair and reasonable.
- The share buyback seems designed to enable the CNBM parent company to bypass the creeper rule and squeeze the shorts.
- The fortuitous material derating of peers has helped make the buyback attractive. Therefore, the votes should pass, and the minimum acceptance condition should be met.
Indian Renewable Energy (IREDA IN) QIP: Index Implications
- IREDA has announced a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) of a maximum of INR 50bn as long as the Government of India’s holding does not drop by more than 7%.
- There will be passive buying at the time of settlement of the QIP shares while the increase in float will bring the stock closer to inclusion in another global index.
- With the stock close to index inclusion level and down 37% from its peak, there could be positioning in the stock for passive inflows.
TOPIX Index Upweights: An Early Preview Of “The Big April Basket” 2025
- The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) calculates Free-Float Weight (FFW) for each listed company and uses this value as a key component of TOPIX Index Calculation.
- For companies with “low liquidity” the FFW will be multiplied by a fixed liquidity factor of 0.75 to derive the final FFW used for index calculation.
- Every April, the application of this liquidity factor is reviewed by the TSE. In this insight, we take an early look at what could happen in April 2025.
CNBM (3323 HK): This Is An “Avoid” Ahead Of 19th Feb H-Class Shareholder Vote
- On the 6th December, China National Building Material (3323 HK) (CNBM), a leading PRC building materials company, offered to buy back 841,749,304 H-shares at HK$4.03/share, a 15.1% premium to undisturbed.
- The thrust of the buyback lifts the stake of CNBM’s parent – the CNBM Parent Concert Group – to 50.01% of total shares from 45.02% currently, necessitating a whitewash waiver.
- Pre-Cons were satisfied on the 24th Jan. The independent H-class shareholders vote for the waiver is on the 19th Feb. Minimum pro-ration is 19.24%. Implied back-end price is well down.
PCOMP Index Rebalance: AREIT, CBC to Replace NIKL, WLCON
- As forecast, Areit (AyalaLand REIT) (AREIT PM) and China Banking (CBC PM) will replace Nickel Asia (NIKL PM) and Wilcon Depot (WLCON PM) in the Philippines Stock Exchange PSEi Index.
- Passive trackers will need to buy between 14-44 days of ADV in the adds while selling between 17-54 days of ADV in the deletes.
- The stocks have already moved a lot over the last few months and positioning has built up over that period. There could still be outperformance ahead of the passives trading.
Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | Dec & Q424 Numbers | Airlines Outperform Trip.com (January 2025)
- Two years after most Covid restrictions ended, pace of travel recovery has slowed, naturally
- Gov’t estimates ahead of LNY travel period seem tepid, actual growth could exceed them
- Trip.com has been stellar performer in segment, but in recent months airlines outperformed
