What's Going On With Alibaba Shares Friday?

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA stock is moving on volatility Friday following recent stimulus concerns. Alibaba and other Chinese stocks traded on U.S. exchanges are predominantly owned by foreign investors, who may quickly respond to fluctuations in the market.

What To Know: Investors were left unsatisfied on Tuesday after China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) chairman Zheng Shanjie announced stimulus measures that failed to live up to expectations.

Investors had anticipated bold stimulus measures to boost the country’s struggling economy. The announced measures included a 100 billion yuan investment plan for 2025 by the end of this month and a separate 100 billion yuan for infrastructure projects. This announcement triggered market volatility, possibly erasing earlier gains that had followed the Chinese Central Bank’s announcement.

Prior to the week-long public holiday known as National Golden Week, China's Central Bank had introduced a series of stimulus measures, including a 0.5 percentage point cut to the reserve requirement ratio, a reduction in the loan prime rate and deposit rates by 0.2 to 0.25 percentage points and a decrease in the seven-day reverse repurchase rate to 1.5%.

Currently, China’s Ministry of Finance is anticipated to hold a press conference on Saturday, offering another chance for investors to receive the decisive stimulus measures they hope for.

How To Buy Alibaba Shares

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Alibaba Gr Hldgs BABA – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy ‘fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, or Amazon.com, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so.

In the the case of Alibaba Gr Hldgs BABA, which is trading at $109.29 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 0.91 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to ‘go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

Related Link: What Happened With AMD Stock Today?

BABA Price Action: At the time of publication, Alibaba stock is trading 1.27% higher at $110.64, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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