Alibaba Slumps 4% After Reports Of Jack Ma's Plan For Ant: Hang Seng Falls Despite Wall Street Rally Amid Xi-Biden Phone Call

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index was in the red on Friday, losing over 0.5% in opening trade, despite a continuing rally on Wall Street. Alibaba shares fell close to 4% following reports Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is planning to cede control of Ant Group.

Macro News: Chinese President Xi Jinping told his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden over a phone call Thursday that his country remains strongly committed to resisting any external interference in Taiwan ahead of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s possible visit to the self-governing island, reported the South China Morning Post.

Hong Kong’s Office of the Government Chief Information Officer has criticised a report by Poland-based 7Asecurity, which says it has uncovered at least 12 vulnerabilities in the city’s “Leave Home Safe” COVID-19 risk-exposure app, according to the South China Morning Post.

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A UN Human Rights Committee expert has urged Hong Kong to scrap its Beijing-imposed national security law, terming it “incompatible” with an international covenant aimed at protecting rights and freedoms, reported the Hong Kong Free Press.

Company News: Jack Ma is planning to cede control of Ant Group Co., people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The move is seen as part of the effort to move away from affiliate Alibaba post an extended period of extraordinary pressure from Chinese regulators.

Nio's founder, William Li, said the EV maker intends to develop just one phone a year, like Apple Inc AAPL, reported CnEVPost.

BYD is manufacturing an SUV named BYD Sea Lion, which could compete with Tesla Inc’s TSLA Model Y. The new model is expected to be launched in the third quarter this year, reported CnEVPost quoting local media.

Global Markets: U.S. markets rallied on Thursday after some key companies reported strong earnings. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.08%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.03% while the S&P 500 surged 1.21%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s ASX 200 traded 0.82% higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up by 0.37% while the South Korean Kospi rose 0.81%. China’s Shanghai Composite index was down 0.04%.