Nio, EV Shares Drop Over 1%, While Alibaba, Tech Peers Mixed: What's Weighing On Hong Kong Stocks Today

Hong Kong stocks opened mixed on Thursday morning, with the benchmark Hang Seng gaining 0.38%, while EV stocks declined. Shares of XPeng, Li Auto and Nio fell over 1%.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) kept the rate on 400 billion yuan ($57.46 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to some financial institutions unchanged at 2.75%, according to Channel News Asia.

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Macro News: China's cyberspace regulator on Wednesday proposed a series of amendments to the nation’s cybersecurity law that includes increasing the size of fines for some violations, reported Reuters.

Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Kazakhstan on Wednesday for a state visit, his first foreign trip since the COVID-19 pandemic as he tries to gain alliances to counter U.S. influence on the world order, reported Bloomberg.

Company News: Alibaba launched its second annual small business grants program, known as the "Manifest" Grants Program, to enhance the competitive edge of products by US small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Tesla Inc. TSLA Chair Robyn Denholm has defended the carmaker’s focus on China and plans to grow further in the country, saying hitting a goal of making 20 million vehicles a year by 2030 will require manufacturing capabilities on every continent, reported Bloomberg.

Top Gainers and Losers: Country Garden Services Holdings Company Ltd and WuXi Biologics (Cayman) Inc. gained over 7% each, while ENN Energy Holdings Ltd and Hengan International Group Company Ltd lost over 0.6% each.

Global News: U.S. futures traded in the green on Thursday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were up 0.06% while the Nasdaq futures gained 0.09%. The S&P 500 futures rose 0.09%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.36%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.12% while China’s Shanghai Composite index gained 0.5%. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.1%.