Alibaba leads tech-driven jump in Hong Kong stocks amid AI enthusiasm



Hong Kong stocks jumped on Thursday after a one-day break, led by technology giants including Alibaba Group Holding, as investors bet on the domestic artificial intelligence narrative while signs of stabilisation in the property sector boosted sentiment.

The Hang Seng Index shot up 1.5 per cent to 27,246.96 as of 11am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index surged 2.5 per cent. Mainland stock exchanges are closed for the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays from Wednesday through October 8.

Technology firms led the rise. Short-video platform Kuaishou Technology surged 5.9 per cent to HK$89.60 while search-engine giant Baidu rose 3.5 per cent to HK$137.90. WeChat operator Tencent rallied 2 per cent to HK$676 and food-delivery service provider Meituan advanced 2.2 per cent to HK$106.80. Smartphone and car maker Xiaomi added 2.1 per cent to HK$55.10 after it delivered more than 40,000 vehicles in September.

E-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding advanced 3.7 per cent to HK$183.50, after JPMorgan raised its price target for its US-listed shares by 45 per cent to US$245, citing an optimistic outlook for its cloud revenue amid domestic AI development. Alibaba owns the Post.

Limiting gains, online travel-booking platform Trip.com declined 2.9 per cent to HK$579 and blind-box toymaker Pop Mart lost 3.7 per cent to HK$257. Li Auto dropped 1 per cent to HK$100.40 and sportswear producer Anta Sports Products slipped 0.9 per cent to HK$92.65.

Mainland China’s home sales by the 100 largest developers edged up 0.4 per cent in September to 252.8 billion yuan (US$35.5 billion) from a year earlier, reversing a 17.6 per cent drop in August, data from China Real Estate Information Corporation showed on Wednesday. The modest recovery follows nearly three years of incremental policy support, including recent eased purchase rules in Beijing and Shanghai.

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