Alibaba, Nio Rise Over 1% As Hong Kong Tech Stocks Cheer Wall Street Rebound: Cautious Investors Eye Key Fed Event

Major U.S.-listed Chinese tech and electric-vehicle stocks rose in Hong Kong on Thursday, with Alibaba and Nio adding over 1%, tracking an upbeat overnight finish on Wall Street. 

The benchmark Hang Seng Index, however, was down 0.3% as investors kept to the sidelines ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech later today.

U.S. Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard had asserted the central bank would do what it takes to rein in inflation, while also regarding the risks of going too far.

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Macro News: China's crude oil imports in August fell 9.4% from a year earlier dragged by outages at state-run refineries and reduced operations at independent plants, reported Reuters.

China’s exports and imports have grown at their slowest pace in four months in August, dragged by inflation-driven de-growth in overseas demand and a disrupted domestic output due to COVID lockdowns and heatwaves. Exports grew 7.1% in August compared to a year earlier, down from an 18% gain in July.

China’s foreign exchange reserves fell for a second straight month to the lowest since October 2018 dragged by a drop in global financial asset prices, reported Bloomberg, citing the government.

Company News: NIO Inc reported its second-quarter results with losses from operations widening to RMB2.85 billion or $424.8 million.

Tesla Inc TSLA has reduced its wait times for new vehicles in China by as much as six weeks.

Top Gainers and Losers: CNOOC Limited and China Resources Land Limited are the top losers on Hang Seng, shedding more than 1.5% in opening trade. Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited and Hang Lung Properties Limited are the top gainers, rising over 1%.

Global News: U.S. futures traded in the red on Thursday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were up 0.07%, while the Nasdaq futures gained 0.17%. The S&P 500 futures rose 0.09%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.71%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.97%, while China’s Shanghai Composite index shed 0.08%. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.31%.