December Imports Increase On Domestic Demand
5 Min. Read Time
Key News
Asian equities were mixed but mostly lower overnight after a weak session on Wall Street on Friday on better-than-expected US jobs data. Pakistan, Vietnam, and Mainland China’s Shenzhen and STAR Board were the only markets managing gains in the region. Meanwhile, the Philippines, Tawan, and India underperformed.
China released trade data overnight, indicating that its overall trade surplus increased in December. Exports increased +10% while imports rose +1%, up from a -4% decline in November. The import increase is a positive indicator for the economy. Energy prices have a significant impact on China’s import levels, though, given that oil prices were close to flat in December, we can safely assume that the imports increase was driven by organic demand in China.
There were some releases and comments from key ministries over the weekend. The Ministry of Commerce commented on increasing foreign investments in 2025. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance Vice Minister commented on China’s ample resources to put toward solving internal and external challenges.
China will release multiple economic reports this week, including Q4 GDP on Thursday along with retail sales, industrial production, aggregate financing, and property investment.
Tencent bought back another 4 million shares today. The company has stepped up buybacks since its addition to the US Department of Defense’s blacklist led to a selloff. The purchase of 4 million shares came after the company purchased over 15 million shares last week.
Video game time restrictions for minors increased slightly. This appeared to weigh on NetEase, though the company is also facing the headwind of an increasingly competitive landscape in the industry. Nonetheless, NetEase has a decent game pipeline and is once again seeking international expansion.
TAL Education is seeking to expand its learning technology business into the Americas. The company pivoted to become more focused on this segment, rather than tutoring, after a regulatory change for the tutoring industry in 2021. TAL’s learning tablets are going to be showcased around the United States.
The Real Estate sector was higher in both Mainland China and Hong Kong.
Fast fashion online retailer SHEIN could list shares in London as soon as this spring.
The Hang Seng and Hang Seng Tech indexes both closed lower by -1.00% and -0.91%, respectively, overnight on volume that declined by -7% from Friday. Mainland investors bought a net $839 million worth of Hong Kong-listed stocks and ETFs overnight via Southbound Stock Connect. The top-performing sectors were Real Estate, which gained +1.73%, Materials, which gained +0.71%, and Energy, which gained +0.62%. Meanwhile, the worst-performing sectors were Information Technology, which fell -1.85%, Consumer Discretionary, which fell -1.57%, and Health Care, which fell -0.92%.
Shanghai, Shenzhen, and the STAR Board diverged to close -0.25%, 0.06%, and 0.17%, respectively, overnight. The top-performing sectors were Real Estate, which gained +1.62%, Materials, which gained +1.09%, and Consumer Staples, which gained +0.46%. Meanwhile, the worst-performing sectors were Consumer Discretionary, which fell -1.16%, Financials, which fell -0.57%, and Utilities, which fell -0.55%.
Last Night's Performance
| Country/Index | Ticker | 1-Day Change |
|---|---|---|
| China (Hong Kong) | HSI Index | -1% |
| Hang Seng Tech | HSTECH Index | -0.9% |
| Hong Kong Turnover | HKTurn Index | -7.4% |
| HK Short Sale Turnover | HKSST Index | 8.8% |
| Short Turnover as a % of HK Turnovr | N/A | 17% |
| Southbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions) | N/A | 841.5 |
| China (Shanghai) | SHCOMP Index | -0.2% |
| China (Shenzhen) | SZCOMP Index | 0.1% |
| China (STAR Board) | Star50 Index | 0.2% |
| Mainland Turnover | .chturn Index | -15.8% |
| Nouthbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions) | N/A | Not Available |
| Jing Daily China Global Luxury Index | CHINALUX Index | -0.4% |
| Japan | NKY Index | -1% |
| India | SENSEX Index | -1.4% |
| Indonesia | JCI Index | -1% |
| Malaysia | FBMKLCI Index | -1% |
| Pakistan | KSE100 Index | 0.9% |
| Philippines | PCOMP Index | -2.4% |
| South Korea | KOSPI Index | -1% |
| Taiwan | TWSE Index | -2.3% |
| Thailand | SET Index | -1% |
| Singapore | STI Index | -0.3% |
| Australia | AS51 Index | -1.2% |
| MSCI China All Shares Index | # of Stocks | Average 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong Listed | 152 | -0.81 |
| Communication Services | 9 | -0.76 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 30 | -1.57 |
| Consumer Staples | 13 | 0.54 |
| Energy | 7 | 0.62 |
| Financials | 23 | -0.22 |
| Health Care | 13 | -0.92 |
| Industrials | 19 | -0.43 |
| Information Technology | 10 | -1.85 |
| Materials | 10 | 0.72 |
| Real Estate | 6 | 1.73 |
| Utilities | 12 | 0.07 |
| Mainland China Listed | 432 | -0.18 |
| Communication Services | 9 | -0.33 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 31 | -1.16 |
| Consumer Staples | 27 | 0.46 |
| Energy | 16 | 0.27 |
| Financials | 63 | -0.57 |
| Health Care | 40 | 0.41 |
| Industrials | 69 | -0.36 |
| Information Technology | 85 | -0.54 |
| Materials | 68 | 1.09 |
| Real Estate | 7 | 1.62 |
| Utilities | 17 | -0.55 |
| US & Hong Kong Dually Listed | Ticker | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Tencent HK | 700 HK Equity | -1 |
| Alibaba HK | 9988 HK Equity | -1.9 |
| JD.com HK | 9618 HK Equity | -1.5 |
| NetEase HK | 9999 HK Equity | 1.3 |
| Yum China HK | 9987 HK Equity | -1.6 |
| Baozun HK | 9991 HK Equity | -9.2 |
| Baidu HK | 9888 HK Equity | -2.3 |
| Autohome HK | 2518 HK Equity | 2.5 |
| Bilibili HK | 9626 HK Equity | -2 |
| Trip.com HK | 9961 HK Equity | -0.3 |
| EDU HK | 9901 HK Equity | -1.6 |
| Xpeng HK | 9868 HK Equity | 0.1 |
| Weibo HK | 9898 HK Equity | -1.4 |
| Li Auto HK | 2015 HK Equity | -3 |
| Nio Auto HK | 9866 HK Equity | -0.6 |
| Zhihu HK | 2390 HK Equity | -1.4 |
| KE HK | 2423 HK Equity | 0.9 |
| Tencent Music Entertainment HK | 1698 HK Equity | -0.5 |
| Meituan HK | 3690 HK Equity | -1.9 |
| Hong Kong's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD | -1 |
| SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING | 6.2 |
| MEITUAN-CLASS B | -1.9 |
| XIAOMI CORP-CLASS B | -2.2 |
| ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD | -1.9 |
| CNOOC LTD | 2.2 |
| PING AN INSURANCE GROUP CO-H | -0.1 |
| NETEASE INC | 1.3 |
| CHINA MOBILE LTD | -0.9 |
| AIA GROUP LTD | -0.9 |
| Shanghai and Shenzhen's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| ZTE CORP-A | 3.4 |
| EAST MONEY INFORMATION CO-A | 1.1 |
| ZHEJIANG SANHUA INTELLIGEN-A | -2.6 |
| CAMBRICON TECHNOLOGIES-A | -1.5 |
| SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURIN-A | 2 |
| LEO GROUP CO LTD-A | -8 |
| SERES GROUP CO L-A | 3 |
| CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHN-A | 0.4 |
| JCET GROUP CO LTD-A | -2.9 |
| ZHEJIANG XCC GROUP CO LTD-A | 1 |
Last Night's Exchange Rates, Prices, & Yields
- CNY per USD 7.33 versus 7.33 Friday
- CNY per EUR 7.48 versus 7.51 Friday
- Yield on 10-Year Government Bond 1.66% versus 1.64% Friday
- Yield on 10-Year China Development Bank Bond 1.67% versus 1.70% Friday
- Copper Price -0.25%
- Steel Price +0.31%
