Alibaba Gains, EV Stocks Lose Shine: Hong Kong Traders Keenly Await Tencent Earnings

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index opened in the green on Wednesday, gaining 0.3% in morning trade as investors keenly await Tencent’s earnings, along with the New Zealand central bank rate decision.

Macro News: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Shenzen to call on China’s dynamic areas to take on more responsibilities for boosting the sluggish economy, the South China Morning Post reported. The trip comes ahead of a Politburo meeting in late August, where the Communist Party’s inner circle would talk about the biggest challenges that China is facing, the report added.

The People’s Bank of China-backed Financial News stated Beijing should introduce new pro-growth policies at an appropriate time to keep growth within a reasonable range, citing Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank, according to Bloomberg.

Company News: Chinese tech giant Tencent is set to deliver its second-quarter earnings today. Reuters had earlier reported it plans to sell all or a bulk of its $24 billion stake in Meituan following which the latter’s shares lost over 9% on Tuesday.

As demand unexpectedly weakened, Chinese EV-manufacturer Li Auto is offering an incentive worth 7,000 yuan ($1,030) on its first model, the Li ONE EREV (extended-range electric vehicle), reported CnEVPost.

Global News: U.S. futures were trading in the red during Wednesday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were down 0.03% while the Nasdaq futures shed 0.08%. The S&P 500 futures lost 0.04%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s ASX 200 lost 0.21%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.94% while China’s Shanghai Composite index was trading flat. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.19%.