Alibaba, JD Fall As Evergrande Suspends Hong Kong Trading; EV Stocks Strike Gains On Upbeat Deliveries

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA and JD.Com Inc. JD fell in Hong Kong on Monday, while Xpeng Inc. XPEV, Li Auto Inc. LI and Baidu Inc. BIDU traded higher. Tencent Holdings Inc.'s TCEHY shares traded flat.

What’s Moving: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s shares have fallen over 3% in Hong Kong and peer JD.Com’s shares have lost more than 1%, while shares of Baidu, Li Auto and Xpeng traded higher in a range of 1% to almost 6%.

Xpeng reported record vehicle deliveries for December, outshining homegrown peer Nio Inc. NIO for a second straight month in electric vehicle deliveries.

Global electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc. TSLA also reported record fourth-quarter and annual deliveries that far exceeded analysts’ estimates despite supply chain disruptions that impacted production for the EV industry as a whole.

See Also: How To Buy Alibaba (BABA) Stock

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index drifted lower after a positive start on Monday and was down 0.6% at the time of writing. The index closed 1.2% higher on Friday. 

Why Is It Moving? The Hang Seng Index fell, led by property stocks, after embattled property developer China Evergrande Group EGRNY suspended its stock from trading in Hong Kong, with no reason given for the halt.

China Evergrande has been ordered to demolish 39 luxury apartments in Hainan province within 10 days because the building permit was illegally obtained, as per a report by Bloomberg, citing local media reports.

Worries about tighter restrictions in Hong Kong and mainland China to stem the surge in Omicron infections also weighed on the market.

Meanwhile, investment bank Morgan Stanley said it is “more bullish than consensus” and projects China’s GDP growth will accelerate to 5.5% in 2022 as the country eases policy, it was reported by CNBC.

Shares of Chinese companies closed mostly lower in U.S. trading on Friday after the major averages in the U.S. ended in negative territory, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves on the final trading day of the year.

Alibaba’s shares closed 3.4% lower, while Nio’s shares ended lower by almost 2.3%.

Read Next: China to Cut EV Subsidies By 30% In 2022: What That Means For Tesla, Nio, XPeng And Others