Shares of China’s small and medium-sized companies are poised to enter a bull market, defying a broader slump in local equities.

The Beijing Stock Exchange 50 Index, a gauge of early-stage innovative companies listed in the capital, rose 3.1% on Monday, taking gains from an October low to over 19%. The measure has beaten its larger, tech-heavy peer by 12 percentage points and the benchmark CSI 300 Index by 16 percentage points, making it a bright spot in China this quarter.

The strong rebound on the Beijing board this month is partly due to a wider fluctuation range of 30% allowed for its constituents in either direction. This compares to a span of as much as 20% for the Shanghai and Shenzhen gauges.

Investors’ light positioning in these companies - the largest of around a dozen exchange traded funds tracking the index have assets of about 228.8 million yuan ($31.9 million) - and regulators’ consideration to include eligible securities into the CSI cross-market index system also serve as catalysts.

The Beijing exchange, launched two years ago, was aimed at helping small firms raise funds and making the nation’s financial markets more multifaceted. 

  - Bloomberg