Alibaba, NetEase weigh on Hong Kong market as Nasdaq peers enter correction phase

Name: Streets and trains empty in central Chinese city of Anyang as Covid-19 lockdown begins
Uploaded: 2022-01-21T02:50:37.000Z
Duration: 59 s
Description: Streets and trains empty in central Chinese city of Anyang as Covid-19 lockdown begins

Hang Seng Tech Index trimmed weekly gain to 1.8 per cent as Alibaba, NetEase slipped while their Nasdaq peers fell into a correction phase

Stocks in the broader Hong Kong market have gained US$105 billion in market value this week on China easing bets

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A woman wearing a face mask walks past a bank’s electronic board showing the Hang Seng Index on January 17. Photo: AP

Zhang Shidong

Published: 10:50am, 21 Jan 2022Updated: 5:03pm, 21 Jan 2022

Hong Kong tech stocks dropped, halting a rally in week following jitters in global markets after a rout drove a key US technology gauge into a correction phase.

The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.4 per cent at the close, limiting this week’s advance to 1.8 per cent. The Hang Seng Index traded lower for most of the day before closing little changed, keeping its 2.4 per cent gain for the week. China’s Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.9 per cent.

E-commerce platform operator Alibaba Group Holding and gaming firm NetEase declined by at least 3.2 per cent while HSBC fell 2.1 per cent. Macau’s casino stocks and property developers surged this week, helping the broader market add US$100 billion of market value on policy-easing bets in China.

Markets in Japan, South Korea and Australia slipped at least 0.9 per cent, tracking weaker US equities. A late sell-off in the Nasdaq 100 members on Thursday has now snowballed to 10 per cent from a record-high in November, roiled by the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance on interest rates.

Sentiment Hong Kong was resilient as traders retained bets that China’s policymakers will keep shoring up growth. The central bank has after injected liquidity, lowered borrowing costs and loosened credit in the housing market over the past one month amid a slowdown.

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Streets and trains empty in central Chinese city of Anyang as Covid-19 lockdown begins

“Tightening in the US will have a limited impact on Hong stocks, which are one of the cheapest in the world,” said Zhang Yidong, a strategist at Industrial Securities in Shanghai. “China’s monetary policy is independent from the rest of the world. That will help sustain a rebound on Hong Kong stocks probably through March.”