Alibaba, Nio Shares Fall: Hang Seng Merely 350 Points Away From 2009 Lows

Hong Kong stocks opened in the red on Thursday as investors shifted focus to U.S. inflation data due later in the day. The benchmark Hang Seng opened 1.11% down and was last seen trading at 16,538, just nearly 350 points away from hitting its 2009 lows.

Shares of Nio, Meituan and JD.com fell over 3% in morning trade while Alibaba shares lost over 1.5%.

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“The Producer Price Index for the US indicates inflation is still strong, reinforcing the need for the Federal Reserve to stick to its aggressive tightening of monetary policy. The market is now looking to see whether the US consumer price data also shows strong inflation,” ANZ Research wrote in a note.

Macro News: China's liquefied natural gas (LNG) importers will keep out of the spot market this winter as demand growth is slowest since 2002, reported Reuters.

Shanghai’s COVID-19 cases rose to a three-month high as city officials quietly shut schools and a raft of other venues, reported Bloomberg.

Company News: TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd. has commenced talks with music labels about expanding its music-streaming service globally, reported the Wall Street Journal citing sources.

Top Gainers and Losers: Country Garden Services Holdings Company Limited and Longfor Group Holdings Limited were the top losers among Hang Seng constituents, shedding over 12% and 5%, respectively. CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Limited and Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd. were the top gainers, rising 2% and 0.9%, respectively.

Global News: U.S. futures traded in the green on Thursday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were up 0.13% while the Nasdaq futures gained 0.05%. The S&P 500 futures were up 0.15%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s ASX 200 was up 0.22%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.46% while China’s Shanghai Composite index was down 0.33%. South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.18%.

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