Alibaba, Meituan Surge Over 5%: Tech Stocks Pull Hang Seng Higher After China Issues Gaming Licenses

Hong Kong markets opened higher on Friday, with the benchmark Hang Seng gaining close to 1% in morning trade, mostly led by tech stocks as China issued gaming licenses to a number of companies, in a move that potentially signals its crackdown on the gaming industry could be easing.

Shares of Alibaba rose over 5% in morning trade, while Meituan stock gained over 6%. JD.com shares, too, rallied over 6%.

Macro News: China's foreign ministry asserted President Xi Jinping was not criticizing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after Xi was seen confronting the latter at the G20 summit over alleged leaks from an informal meeting they had conducted on Tuesday, reported Reuters.

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Chinese regulators have asked banks to report on their ability to meet short-term obligations following a rapid sell-off in its bond market that led to investor withdrawals from fixed-income products, reported Bloomberg citing sources.

Company News: Alibaba reported second-quarter revenue growth of 3% year-on-year to $29.12 billion, missing the consensus of $29.45 billion.

Tencent Holdings won approval for its first new major game title, “Metal Slug: Awakening,” since Chinese regulators resumed licensing this year.

Top Gainers and Losers: Alibaba Health Information Technology Limited and Meituan were the top gainers on Hang Seng on Friday, having risen over 8% and 7%, respectively. Henderson Land Development Company Limited and New World Development Company Limited are the top losers, having shed over 2% and 1.5%, respectively.

Global News: U.S. futures traded mixed on Friday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were down 0.03% while the Nasdaq futures gained 0.27%. The S&P 500 futures were trading lower by 0.32%.

Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific, Australia’s ASX 200 was up 0.12%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 0.17% higher while China’s Shanghai Composite index was down by 0.18%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.62%.

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