Alibaba Muted But Hong Kong Stocks Overall Show Momentum, Looking Past Weak China Economic Data

Hong Kong’s benchmark index Hang Seng index opened in the green on Tuesday, gaining 0.34%, seemingly moving past concerns related to underwhelming economic data reported a day earlier.

Traders in Asia also digested monetary policy meeting minutes released by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The minutes of the meeting said inflation was now expected to peak later and higher than previously thought, but measures of longer-term inflation expectations had declined.

Macro News: China conducted more military drills near Taiwan on Monday as a group of U.S. lawmakers visited the island and met President Tsai Ing-wen, reported Reuters. China's Defence Ministry said the lawmakers' visit infringed on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the report.

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Hong Kong’s accounting regulator is widening its investigation into China Evergrande Group’s financial reporting, after the property developer’s recent disclosure of borrowing arrangements which led to lenders seizing $2 billion from a key subsidiary earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

China has reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries for a seventh consecutive month in June, according to the Treasury Department data released on Monday, reported Reuters.

Company News: Tesla Inc TSLA-rival XPeng Motors has presented its ultra-fast charging technology that can provide a range of 210 km in 5 minutes, reported CnEVPost.

Chinese internet giants like Alibaba, Tencent Holdings and ByteDance Ltd. have shared details of their algorithms with Beijing for the first time, reported Bloomberg. This is seen as an unprecedented move towards curbing data abuse which may end up compromising closely guarded corporate secrets, the report said.

Global News: U.S. futures were trading in the red during the Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were down 0.1% while the Nasdaq futures shed 0.13%. The S&P 500 futures lost 0.14%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.9% during Tuesday morning trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost over 0.03% while China’s Shanghai Composite index was trading flat. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.46%.