Hong Kong stocks eye best week since January on tech rally as China praises market leaders after fines, crackdown

Name: China restricts critical metal exports following Western semiconductor curbs in latest trade war
Uploaded: 2023-07-13T02:28:59.000Z
Duration: 3 min 36 s
Description: China restricts critical metal exports following Western semiconductor curbs in latest trade war

Alibaba Group, Tencent, JD.com rallied in Hong Kong after Premier Li Qiang pledged to deepen support for tech firms after years-long ‘rectification’ measures

Market shrugged off data showing China’s external trade slumped in June by more than predicted

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Investors monitor stock price movements inside a brokerage in Shanghai. Photo: AFP

Yulu Ao

Published: 10:28am, 13 Jul 2023Updated: 4:53pm, 13 Jul 2023

Hong Kong stocks rallied for a fourth day as China pledged to deepen support for the nation’s biggest tech companies after rectifying flaws in the industry. Traders shrugged off a government report that showed China’s external trade shrank more than expected last month.

The Hang Seng Index advanced 2.6 per cent to 19,350.62 at the close of Thursday. The 5.4 per cent run-up since Monday approached the best rally in the opening week of January. The Tech Index soared 3.8 per cent while the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.3 per cent.

JD.com strengthened 6.4 per cent to HK$150.70 and Meituan increased 5.7 per cent to HK$134.60. Alibaba Group surged 3.2 per cent to HK$92.75 while Tencent gained 2.9 per cent to HK$349.80. Baidu climbed 4.4 per cent to HK$148.30 and EV maker BYD added 1.1 per cent to HK$264.

Premier Li Qiang met top executives from several internet companies including ByteDance, Alibaba Could and Meituan on Wednesday, CCTV said in a broadcast. Li also urged local governments to back internet firms, the state-run television reported.

“It has reduced investors’ concerns about industry regulation,” said Kenny Ng, an equity strategist at Everbright Securities in Hong Kong. This could sustain the tech stock rebound, he added.

China last week slapped more than US$1 billion of fines on fintech entities in the Alibaba and Tencent groups for breaking market rules, a move Beijing said completed its years-long rectification or crackdown on internet-platform operators.

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China restricts critical metal exports following Western semiconductor curbs in latest trade war