Hang Seng Index (HSI): Live Chart, Constituents and How It Works

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The Hang Seng Index (HSI) is Hong Kong’s benchmark stock index. It tracks the largest and most liquid companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) and is quoted in index points, with the quote above labeled in Hong Kong dollars. Because many of its biggest members are mainland Chinese companies, the HSI also serves as a widely watched gauge of how international investors view China and Asian markets more broadly.

How to Read the HSI Quote

The quote panel shows the latest index level, the change from the previous close, and the time and source of that reading. A few points make the numbers easier to interpret:

• Previous close is the level at the end of the last Hong Kong trading session. The daily percentage change is measured against it.
• Day range is the lowest and highest level reached in the current or most recent session.
• 52-week range shows where today’s level sits relative to the past year’s low and high. A reading near the top of the range means the index is close to its 12-month peak.
• Performance periods (1D, 5D, 1M, 6M, YTD, 1Y) show the percentage change over each window. Short and long windows can point in opposite directions, so a strong week can sit inside a weak year.

The timestamp is in UTC. HKEX trades in Hong Kong time (UTC+8), with a morning session from 9:30 a.m. to noon and an afternoon session from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. That works out to roughly 01:30 to 08:00 UTC, with a lunch break. A quote viewed during the U.S. or European day usually reflects the last Hong Kong close, not a live move.

The HSI is a price index. It does not reinvest cash dividends, so when a large constituent goes ex-dividend, the index level drops mechanically even if nothing else changes. Over long periods, the price return shown in the performance figures understates what a holder collecting dividends would have earned.

What the Hang Seng Index Measures

Launched in 1969 with a base value of 100 (set as of July 31, 1964), the index is managed by Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank.

The HSI aims to represent the leading companies on the exchange and covers roughly 65% of HKEX’s total market capitalization. The exchange itself lists about 2,700 companies, so a small group of constituents accounts for most of the market’s value. The constituent count is not fixed: it was 90 as of May 2026 and has changed over time as the provider expanded the index.

How the Index Is Built

Free-float weighting and the 8% cap

The HSI is free-float market-capitalization weighted. Each company’s weight depends on the value of its shares available for public trading, excluding large strategic or government holdings that rarely change hands. A larger free-float value means a larger weight, and a bigger influence on daily index moves.

To stop a single stock from dominating, the methodology applies an 8% cap on individual weights. Any excess is redistributed across the other constituents.

Hypothetical example: in a three-stock index with free-float market caps of 600, 300 and 100 (billion HKD), uncapped weights would be 60%, 30% and 10%. A 1% rise in the first stock lifts the index about 0.6%, while the same rise in the third adds only about 0.1%. In the real HSI, the 8% cap limits how far any one name can move the index.

Calculation and reviews

The index is calculated every two seconds during HKEX trading hours. The constituents’ current capped free-float market value is compared with the same figure at the base date and scaled to the base value of 100, with adjustments for corporate actions such as share issues so they do not distort the level.

An index committee meets quarterly to review the constituents and decide on additions and removals.

Four sub-indices

Every HSI constituent is also assigned to one of four sub-indices: Finance, Utilities, Properties, and Commerce and Industry. These let investors see which part of the market is driving the headline number.

What’s Inside: Sectors and Largest Constituents

As of May 2026, the index leaned heavily toward a few industries. Financials carried about 34% of the weight, consumer discretionary about 22% and information technology about 15%, so these three accounted for roughly 71% of the index. Energy, properties and construction, telecommunications and healthcare each sat between roughly 3.5% and 6%, with utilities, materials, consumer staples, industrials and conglomerates making up the rest.

The five largest constituents at that date were HSBC Holdings, Alibaba, Tencent, AIA Group and China Construction Bank, with HSBC close to the 8% cap. Other major weights included Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Mobile, Xiaomi, HKEX itself, CNOOC, Meituan, Ping An Insurance and BYD. Weights shift with share prices and quarterly reviews, so this snapshot describes the index at that date, not permanently.

What Moves the Hang Seng

Given that composition, the index responds most to factors affecting large banks, insurers and Chinese internet and consumer companies:

• Mainland China’s economy and policy. Earnings of many large constituents depend on Chinese consumer demand, regulation and credit conditions.
• Interest rates. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar in a band of 7.75 to 7.85 under the Linked Exchange Rate System, so local rates tend to follow U.S. policy. Rates affect bank margins, property valuations and equity valuations generally.
• Global risk appetite. International investors hold a large share of Hong Kong stocks, so shifts in global sentiment feed into the index.
• Concentration. A sharp move in a handful of top-weighted names can move the whole index, even when most constituents are flat.

Related Hang Seng Indexes

The provider runs a family of indexes alongside the HSI:

• Hang Seng Composite Index: a broader benchmark covering the top 95% of HKEX stocks by market cap, around 500 companies.
• Hang Seng HK 35: 35 Hong Kong-based companies that earn most of their revenue outside mainland China.
• Hang Seng TECH Index: 30 technology-related stocks drawn from the Composite.

How to Get Exposure

An index cannot be bought directly. Common routes are exchange-traded funds and derivatives: the Tracker Fund of Hong Kong, listed on HKEX, is designed to track the HSI, and HKEX lists Hang Seng Index futures and options. U.S.-listed funds offer related exposure, but check what each one tracks. The iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF (EWH) follows an MSCI Hong Kong index rather than the HSI, and the KraneShares Hang Seng TECH Index ETF (KTEC) tracks the 30-stock tech index. Fund returns can differ from the index because of fees, dividends received and tracking differences.

The Bottom Line

Anyone checking the HSI quote from the U.S. or Europe is usually seeing the last Hong Kong close, measured in price terms without dividends. Because a few large banks, insurers and Chinese tech names dominate the weights, mainland policy, U.S.-linked interest rates and global sentiment drive much of the movement. Investors seeking exposure should confirm which index a fund actually tracks, since some popular funds follow different benchmarks.