Hang Seng and Alibaba shares fell after unexpected earnings
On Friday, Hong Kong shares declined, increasing losses from the prior session while several of China’s biggest tech companies remained under pressure.
The benchmark Hang Seng index sank 1.73% in afternoon trade, while the Hang Seng tech index fell 1.1%.
Hong Kong-listed Alibaba shares fell more than 11% after the technology giant missed earnings and revenue expectations for the quarter that ended in September. It followed as slowing economic growth in China estimated results.
The company reported a revenue of 200.68 billion yuan, equal to $31.5 billion. It turned out less than the estimated 204.94 billion yuan. However, it still ranks as a 28% year-on-year rise. The company reported earnings less than an estimate of 12.37 yuan per share of 11.21 yuan. It ranks as a 39% year-on-year decline.
On Thursday, Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares dropped 11.2%.
Shares of Meituan declined 2.67%, Baidu was down 3.78%, and Tencent dropped 0.82%. Alibaba-rival JD gained 7.13%, opposing the downward trend.
Shares in general traded mixed in Asia-Pacific region.
Mainland Chinese stocks extended: The Shanghai Composite rose 0.58%, while the Shenzhen component fell 0.68%.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% in Japan, while the Topix increased 0.45%. Later on Friday, investors will be waiting for an expected announcement of a record $489 billion stimulus package in Japan.
Australia’s ASX 200 climbed 0.24%. According to Reuters, shares of Crown Resorts rose more than 16.58% after a $6.3 billion buyout proposal from investment company Blackstone.
South Korea’s Kospi increased 0.87%. On Friday, markets in India are closed for a holiday.
U.S. markets remained mixed overnight, while strong earnings boosted some indices. The Nasdaq Composite surged 0.6% to 15,993.72 while the S&P 500 moved 0.4% higher to 4,704.55. The Dow dropped 60 points, equal to 0.2%, affected by large losses in Cisco shares.
The S&P 500 dropped around 0.4% before recovering, as Nvidia and various retailers reported solid earnings. Other chipmakers also increased after Nvidia’s solid results boosted optimism for the sector.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index (tracking the greenback against a basket of its peers) was 95.625, recovering from 95.581.
The Japanese yen, trading at 114.34 per dollar, declined insignificantly. The Australian dollar stood at $0.7279, below levels around $0.729 earlier this year.
Prices of shares in the oil market proceeded to recover from a decline to six-week lows. During Asian trading hours, U.S. crude started to rise 0.63% to around $79.6 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent climbed 0.83% to $81.93.
