East Asia
Hong Kong stocks slide as PDD’s 29% crash dents outlook on Chinese tech, e-commerce firms
Hong Kong stocks tumbled, surrendering most of Monday’s advance, after Temu owner PDD Holdings crashed 29 per cent in New York, heightening investor concerns about rising competition among leading Chinese technology and e-commerce players.
The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.7 per cent to 17,676.50 as at 10am local time, following a 1.1 per cent rally yesterday. The Tech Index slumped 1.7 per cent while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.5 per cent.
Alibaba Group Holding slid 3.9 per cent to HK$80.05 and e-commerce rival JD.com lost 4.4 per cent to HK$101.00, while Tencent fell 1 per cent to HK$378.00. Food delivery service provider Meituan fell 2.3 per cent to HK$106.50 and video-sharing services provider Bilibili dropped 3 per cent to HK$111.20.
Today’s retreat came after investors dumped e-commerce platform owner PDD in New York trading after co-founder Chen Lei said its current growth trajectory was not sustainable. The sell-off also came after US retail giant Walmart dumped its stake in JD.com for US$3.6 billion last week, ending an 8-year partnership.
The market reversal showed how investors are worried about the earnings outlook, despite the boost from a probable rate cut next month, as signalled by the Federal Reserve this week. Traders are likely to sell more Chinese tech-related stocks as Beijing struggles to foster a rebound in growth.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.3 per cent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.5 per cent.
