Alibaba, Meituan, Nio Jump: Hang Seng Looks Past Weak China Factory Data To Focus On Fed Policy – Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA)

Hong Kong shares opened in the green on Monday, with the benchmark Hang Seng rising 0.63%, as investors and traders shrugged off a contraction in China’s factory activity while focussing more on the possibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve adopting a less aggressive stance going ahead.

“[Jerome] Powell is likely to leave open the possibility of another 75bp hike in December. We think the Fed will want to see service inflation moderating before reducing the pace of its tightening,” ANZ Research wrote in a note.

Shares of Meituan and Tencent rose over 3%, while Alibaba shares rose 2.35% in morning trade.

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Macro News: China’s factory activity unexpectedly fell in October with the official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) coming in at 49.2 compared to 50.1 in September, reported Reuters.

The People’s Bank of China will boost credit support for the real economy while keeping the yuan basically steady, Governor Yi Gang stated in comments published on Sunday, according to Reuters.

Company News: NIO’s highly anticipated ET5 sedan is witnessing delivery delays due to Covid, reported CnEVPost.

Central China cities drew up plans to isolate migrant workers rushing to their hometowns from the facility of iPhone-maker Foxconn Technology Co Ltd FXCOF in Zhengzhou, reported Reuters.

Top Gainers and Losers: Longfor Group Holdings Limited and ENN Energy Holdings Limited were the top losers among Hang Seng constituents, having shed over 24% and 7%, respectively. Meituan and Xiaomi Corporation were the top gainers, having risen over 5% and 3%, respectively.

Global News: U.S. futures traded in the red on Monday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were down 0.06%, while Nasdaq futures lost 0.17%. The S&P 500 futures were trading lower by 0.13%.

Elsewhere in Asia Pacific, Australia’s ASX 200 was up 0.87%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.77% while China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 0.03%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.96%.

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