Shares of U.S.-listed Chinese tech companies traded notably lower in Hong Kong on Tuesday, dragging the benchmark Hang Seng Index into negative territory.
| Stock | Movement (+/-) |
|---|---|
| Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) | -3.0% |
| JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) | -2.0% |
| Tencent Holdings Limited (OTC:TCEHY) | -1.4% |
| Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) | -0.9% |
| Xpeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) | -0.8% |
| Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ:LI) | +1.7% |
Why Is It Moving? Alibaba’s shares extended losses from the previous session amid worries about the Chinese e-commerce giant’s plan to register new American Depositary Shares (ADS).
The ADS registration indicates that some of the insiders — either management or early investor SoftBank Group Corp. (OTC:SFTBY) — might sell their shares in Alibaba in the near future, Bloomberg reported, citing analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM).
Worries about U.S. export restrictions on Chinese tech companies also weighed on the market.
Shares of WuXi Biologics Inc. tumbled almost 23% after the biotechnology company was among the 33 Chinese entities that were included in the U.S. Commerce Department’s “unverified list.” U.S. companies seeking to export to the entities on the list are required to obtain a licence to do so.
See Also: How To Buy Xpeng Motors (XPEV) Stock
The Hang Seng Index was down almost 1% at the time of writing, as data showed that Hong Kong’s private sector contracted in January after eleven months of expansion amid a new wave of COVID-19 infections.
Hong Kong’s IHS Markit SAR Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) fell to 48.9 in January from 50.8 in December and also below the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction.
Hong Kong is likely to impose its most stringent social-distancing rules after the financial hub confirmed 614 new coronavirus infections on Monday.
The government is expected to announce later on Tuesday that public gatherings will be limited to two people and a new “vaccine pass” will be extended to shopping malls, the South China Morning Post reported.
Shares of Chinese companies, including electric vehicle maker Nio Inc. (NYSE:NIO), closed lower in U.S. trading on Monday after the major averages in the U.S. ended mostly lower.
