** MicroStrategy shares rise by 6.1% in premarket trading as the company is set to join the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 index
** Other entrants to Nasdaq 100 along with MSTR: Palantir
and Axon Enterprise up 1% and 3.1%, respectively, in premarket trading
** Companies to be removed from the index fall: Illumina
down 1.2%, Super Micro Computer down 11.8% and Moderna down 0.6%
** Nasdaq 100 index will now gain indirect exposure to bitcoin via MSTR, which holds $44 bln worth of the cryptocurrency on its balance sheet
** MSTR has more than doubled its bitcoin holdings this year through equity and debt deals
** Company's market capitalization rose to more than $100 bln based on the latest premarket share price, more than twice the value of its bitcoin stockpile
** The reconstituted index will begin trading on Dec. 23
** As of last close, MSTR up more than six-fold, while PLTR has gained more than four-fold and AXON has more than doubled, YTD
(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru)
((Sukriti.Gupta@thomsonreuters.com;))
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