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Jack Dorsey's Block to join S&P 500 index, replacing Hess after merger
The fintech firm will replace Hess Corp. in the benchmark, following Chevron Corp.'s $53 billion acquisition of the energy producer.
The changes will go into effect prior to the start of trading on July 23, according to a press release from S&P Dow Jones Indices Friday. Shares of Block rose as much as 14 per cent in after-hours trading.
Block, formerly known as Square, has evolved from a payments processor into a broader fintech player, offering peer-to-peer transfers, merchant services, and increasingly, consumer lending.
Earlier this year, Block's industrial bank subsidiary Square Financial Services Inc. received approval from the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to begin offering consumer loans directly through the Cash App Borrow product.
The company is also integrating Bitcoin payment capabilities into its Square terminals, reflecting Dorsey's long-standing advocacy for Bitcoin. He remains an influential voice in the digital-asset world, recently sharing open-source coding projects on X.
Block is aiming to turn Cash App into a full-scale banking and lending product, even as the company grapples with uneven earnings results.
Inclusion in the US equity benchmark can elevate a company's profile and is becoming more important as passive investment funds grow. Expulsion from the benchmark can weigh on stock prices, as index funds sell shares to realign with the S&P 500's new composition.
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