Stocks in major Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Wednesday, with Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech juggernaut Alibaba surging following the reappearance of founder Jack Ma.
Shares of Alibaba listed in the city surged more than 5% in afternoon trade after Ma appeared in a video posted on Chinese social media addressing rural teachers as part of one of his charity foundation’s initiatives. It was his first appearance following weeks out of the spotlight as his companies face increased regulatory scrutiny.
Shares of other Chinese tech firms listed in Hong Kong also saw strong gains, with Tencent up 3.13% while Meituan soared more than 6%. The broader Hang Seng Tech index gained 3.64%.
Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index advanced 0.48%
Mainland Chinese stocks were higher in afternoon trade, with the Shenzhen component gaining 1% while the Shanghai composite advanced 0.15%.
The moves in Chinese stocks came as the one-year prime rate (LPR) and five-year LPR in China were both left unchanged at 3.85% and 4.65%, respectively. It was in line with expectations of a majority of traders and analysts in a snap Reuters poll.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi was 0.1% lower.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.45% while the Topix index shed 0.53%.
Shares in Australia edged higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.41%.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.81%. The moves came after reports that almost all states in the country will be placed under Movement Control Order from Friday as the government seeks to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares gained 0.67%.
In corporate developments, shares of South Korean automaker Kia Motors surged more than 8% after the firm said it is looking at electric car projects with multiple firms, Reuters reported citing a regulatory filing.
That development came after a local online publication reported that Kia’s parent Hyundai Motor Group had decided Kia would be in charge of the proposed cooperation with Cupertino-based tech giant Apple on electric cars, according to Reuters.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.374 following an earlier high above 90.7.
The Japanese yen traded at 103.74 per dollar, stronger than an earlier level of 103.93 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7726, still off levels above $0.775 seen last week.
Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.68% to $56.28 per barrel. U.S. crude futures advanced about 0.7% to $53.35 per barrel.
Source: CNBC