BlackRock has sold almost its entire stake in China Telecom, which is subject to a new U.S. investment ban.
According to a notification to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the world's largest asset manager sold 818 million shares in China Telecom, one of 44 companies under sanctions, at a price of $1.92, a decrease of 12% from the closing price that same day. BlackRock stated that its funds index adjusted its holdings to align with the decisions of MSCI, FTSE Russell, and S&P Dow Jones indices to remove China Telecom and other sanctioned companies from their benchmarks. This led China Telecom's shares to rise by 1.4% to close at $2.34 on Friday, as some non-U.S. investors sought to purchase the low-priced stock.
