Hong Kong stocks plunge on tech losses after Walmart reportedly plans to dump JD.com shares

Hong Kong Shares slumped on speculation that foreign investors are dumping Chinese technology stocks amid concerns about earnings and the economic outlook, while a report showed that more hedge funds are abandoning their bets on Chinese stocks.

The Hang Seng Index fell 1 percent to 17,345.53 at the lunch break in local trading, erasing a 0.5 percent gain this week. The Tech Index tumbled 2.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.4 percent.

JD.com fell 10.3 percent to HK$100.70. U.S. retailer Walmart Inc. plans to raise up to $3.74 billion by selling its stake in U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese e-commerce platform operator at a discounted price, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Walmart, which is selling 144.5 million of JD.com’s U.S.-listed shares, is a “valued partner,” Reuters reported, citing a company statement. The pending sale will allow Walmart to focus on its own operations in China and deploy capital for other priorities, the report said.

05:46

Why investors should expect more market volatility after the recent global equity sell-off

Other Chinese technology stocks fell in lockstep following the news. Short video platform owner Kuaishou Technology plunged 10 percent to HK$39.95, Alibaba Group Holding lost 1.2 percent to HK$79.45 and smartphone maker Xiaomi lost 1.1 percent to HK$17.48.

“The news has affected the general sentiment on technology stocks,” said Dickie Wong, managing director of Kingston Securities. “Investors, including successful fund managers, are becoming conservative” because many Hong Kong-listed technology companies also have large foreign shareholders, he added.

Investors have struggled to maintain their interest or bets on Chinese stocks as the economy lost momentum in the last quarter and stimulus failed to revive confidence. Hong Kong-based hedge fund Strategic Vision Investment (SVI) ended his bets on Chinese stocks because its long-short strategy did not have the desired success, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday.

Instead, investors are looking for undervalued stocks and those that support buyback programs, Wong said. Share buybacks in Hong Kong have hit a historic high of HK$164.8 billion (US$21.2 billion) this year, surpassing last year’s total by 30 percent, according to benchmark creator Hang Seng Indexes Company.

Sunny Optical Technology limited its losses, rising 9.2 percent to HK$49.65 after its quarterly profit beat estimates.

Other Asian markets also weakened, posting losses overnight after the US stock index ended an eight-day winning streak. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.4 percent and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.1 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3 percent.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply