Hong Kong stocks halt 4-week rout after stunning rebound in Alibaba, JD.com as investors await China stimulus, Biden-Xi call

A stunning rebound in Chinese tech stocks helped end a four-week losing streak after Beijing’s verbal support for markets
Hang Seng Index members recouped US$468 billion over the past two days, more than they lost in the sell-off earlier this week

Hong Kong stock market

Cheryl Heng

Published: 10:33am, 18 Mar 2022

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Hong Kong stocks capped a winning week after a stunning rebound in Chinese tech stocks as Beijing offered moral support for markets, spurring confidence. Investors look towards talks between the US and China leaders later Friday.

The Hang Seng Index advanced 4.3 per cent to 21,412.40 from a week earlier, snapping a rout over the preceding four weeks. The benchmark surged 17 per cent over Wednesday and Thursday from a decade-low, before retreating 0.4 per cent on Friday. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.2 per cent for the week.

The Tech Index slipped 1.9 per cent on Friday as traders locked up 20 per cent-plus rallies in bellwethers like Alibaba Group, JD.com and Tencent Holdings in midweek. Despite a pullback on Friday, the trio and Meituan chalked up 4 to 16 per cent gains from a week earlier.

The 66-member Hang Seng Index clawed back US$468 billion of market value over Wednesday and Thursday after a State Council committee chaired by economic tsar Liu He pledged to stabilise markets. The nation’s market regulator also chimed in amid concerns about the Ukraine conflict and US delisting pressures.

China’s market regulator chimes in with support after stocks rout

Investors are waiting for the outcome of a call between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later Friday, said Mark Po, head of research at China Galaxy International Securities in Hong Kong.

“Issues that drove down the market earlier this week have not been resolved, such as the accounting concerns of Chinese ADRs and the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” he added.

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Economists at Wall Street banks including Goldman Sachs expect China to unveil more measures as a raging outbreak of Omicron and weak credit growth cloud the nation’s recovery outlook.

“While there is a lack of concrete measures, Liu He reiterated the accommodative policy stance which might help ease investors’ concerns,” Goldman said in a March 16 report. “With the rapidly worsening Covid situation and still-weak property indicators, concrete policy easing measures will be needed soon.”

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority this week raised its base rate for the first time since 2018 in lockstep with the Federal Reserve’s first rate hike as policy lift-off began to counter the fastest inflation in four decades.

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Aquila Acquisition, Hong Kong’s first SPAC listing, fell 3.2 per cent to HK$9.68 in its trading debut. Trading was restricted to professionals only, as the exchange barred retail investors from buying and selling so-called blank-check companies.

Three other firms made their trading debut on mainland bourses. Shenzhen KTC Technology, a producer of flat-screen display panels, jumped 28 per cent. Beijing Navigation Control Technology lost 15 per cent. Shaanxi Lighte Optoelectronics sank 14 per cent.

Markets in Asia-Pacific were mostly stronger on Friday. Japanese and Australian shares gained at least 0.6 per cent, while the South Korean equities added 0.5 per cent.

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