Alibaba, Nio Rise: Hang Seng Rises On Wall Street Cues, City Chief John Lee Gears Up For Beijing Visit

Hong Kong shares opened in the green on Wednesday, with the benchmark Hang Seng trading 0.3% higher. The city’s Chief Executive John Lee is set to travel to Beijing from Dec. 21 to Dec. 24 as part of his annual visit to brief state leaders on Hong Kong’s economic, social and political situation.

Bears seem to have moved to the sidelines, taking cues from Wall Street. Major U.S. indices closed marginally higher on Tuesday ending a four-day losing streak as investors and traders are watching out for a much anticipated year-end rally. Market participants in Hong Kong have also shrugged off a surprise move by the Bank of Japan to widen its yield cap on its long-term bonds.

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Shares of Xpeng gained over 5%, while Li Auto stock rise close to 3% in morning trade. Alibaba shares traded 0.7% higher.

Macro News: The World Bank has trimmed its China growth outlook for this year and 2023, citing the impact of the sudden easing of strict COVID-19 containment measures and lingering property sector weakness, reported Reuters.

China’s budget deficit stood at $1.1 trillion in the first 11 months of this year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from the Ministry of Finance.

Company News: China's Xiaomi Corp XIACF has commenced laying off workers in its smartphone and internet services business, as the nation battles COVID-19 outbreaks, reported Reuters.

NIO suffered a data breach in which a hacker demanded $2.25 million worth of Bitcoin BTC/USD, reported CnEVPost.

Top Gainers and Losers: WuXi Biologics (Cayman) Inc. and Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. are the top gainers among Hang Seng constituents, rising over 3% and 1.5%, respectively. Meituan and The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited are the top losers, having shed 0.8% and 0.68%, respectively.

Global News: U.S. futures traded in the green on Monday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures gained 0.59% while the Nasdaq futures rose 0.65%. The S&P 500 futures were trading higher by 0.56%.

Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific, Australia’s ASX 200 was trading higher by 1.34%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 0.09% lower while China’s Shanghai Composite index gained 0.06%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.34%.

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