LONDON (Reuters) - Dutch bank ABN Amro (AS:ABNd) and German construction group Hochtief (DE:HOTG) are among stocks to be added to the pan-European STOXX 600 benchmark index (STOXX), potentially helping them attract more investment flows.
Index compiler STOXX, which uses criteria such as market capitalisation and free float to rank stocks, said late on Tuesday that Italian oil services group Saipem (MI:SPMI) and Swedish defence firm Saab (ST:SAABb) will also find places in the index.
Others winning promotion include Saga (L:SAGAG), a British services company specialising in people aged over 50, UK banking group CYBG (L:CYBGC), and French travel and leisure company Elior (PA:ELIOR).
However, Britain's Sports Direct (L:SPD), Restaurant Group (L:RTN) and Bovis Homes (L:BVS) are among those to be demoted.
Demotion from the benchmark index means the shares will be dropped from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index trackers replicating the STOXX 600 (STOXX), which can often result in a fall in liquidity for the stocks.
The changes will take effect when markets open on June 20.