XPeng Plunges 10% On Weak Results, Alibaba Sheds 1%: Hang Seng Opens Lower As Fed's Jackson Hole Meet Takes Precedence

Electric-vehicle stocks plunged in Hong Kong on Wednesday morning, with Tesla Inc TSLA rival XPeng Inc tumbling over 10% after posting a quarterly net loss that more than doubled.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.28% at the open as markets eyed U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech on the economic outlook at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.

Macro News: The Chinese yuan fell to a more than two-year low of 6.86 against the greenback on Tuesday, as the dollar rallied ahead of Powell's speech at Jackson Hole and as a result of the Chinese central bank's easy monetary policy to aid a slowing economy. 

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has warned China, on the anniversary of a confrontation that took place six decades ago, that the island is determined to defend itself and invaders will incur a “heavy price”, reported Reuters. 

Also Read: Why Haven't Any Tesla Executives Bought Their Own Company's Stock This Year?

Company News: XPeng on Tuesday reported a net loss of 2.7 billion yuan ($403.2 million) for the second quarter, compared with a loss of 1.2 billion yuan a year earlier.

The company expects to deliver between 29,000 and 31,000 vehicles in the third quarter, which was weaker than some reported market estimates. 

Li Auto shares in Hong Kong fell over 3%, while those of Nio shed over 1.5%.

Tencent-backed grocery supply firm Yonghui Fresh Food is looking to raise about $200 million ahead of a Hong Kong initial public offering next year, reported Bloomberg.

TikTok-owner ByteDance has launched a search app Wukong in China, the South China Morning Post reported.

Global News: Wall Street ended on a weaker note on Tuesday as economic data in the U.S. showed private sector firms witnessed a sharper fall in business activity in August. In Asia trading on Wednesday, the Dow Jones futures were down 0.09%, while the Nasdaq futures lost 0.08% and S&P 500 futures fell 0.08%.

Elsewhere, Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.69%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.19% while China’s Shanghai Composite index was up 0.12%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.24%.