China Stocks Closed Mixed After Volatile Trading, Alibaba Seeks More Investors In Mainland China

Li Chen
23 Aug, 2024
Hong Kong

Stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong diverged as investors reacted to domestic earnings and overlooked international market jitters. 

The Hang Seng index decreased by 0.3%, and the CSI 300 index advanced by 0.3%. 

Investors reviewed the latest earnings from Ping An, NetEase, Orient Overseas, WH Group, and Longfor Group. 

Investors also welcomed Alibaba Group's decision to change its stock listing to dual-listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, allowing the e-commerce company to access more than 220 million investors in mainland China. 

The Hang Seng index is set to close nearly unchanged after rising in the previous two weeks, and the CSI 300 index is set to close down 0.4% following the gain in the previous week. 

For the year so far, the CSI 300 index is down 1.9% and the Han Seng index is up 4.5%. 

China stocks are struggling for the fourth year in a row amid a faltering economic recovery, an uneven policy response, a protracted residential market downturn, and weakening consumer confidence. 

Foreign investors are trimming their China holdings amid a lack of macroeconomic improvement catalysts and a weakening earnings outlook over the next two years. 

Indexes in Shanghai and Hong Kong are now down between 40% and 50% since their peaks in early 2018. 

 

China Stock Movers 

The Hang Seng index declined 0.3% to 17,586.81, and the CSI 300 index gained 0.3% to 3,323.71. 

NetEase declined 12.8% to HK $124.60, and the online game developer reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter results. 

Orient Overseas International declined 7.5% to HK $106.10, and the international ocean shipping company reported a 26% decline in earnings in the first half of 2024. 

Alibaba Group Holding increased 6% to HK $82.20 after the e-commerce giant announced its Hong Kong listing to a dual-primary listing status, allowing the company to access mainland China investors.

WH Group added 1.8% to HK $5.60 in active trading. 

Longfor Group Holdings declined 0.8% to HK $8.51, and the residential property developer reported revenue in the first half increased 10.1% to 13.10 billion yuan, and profit attributable to shareholders was 5.87 billion yuan. 

The company also declared an interim cash dividend of 0.22 yuan per share. 

Ping An Insurance increased 3.5% to HK$35.15 after the insurance giant reported its best half-year results in four years.