Apple Taps Alibaba For AI, Real Estate Developers Surge
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Key News
Asian equities were mostly higher overnight as Hong Kong and Indonesia outperformed while Taiwan and Pakistan underperformed.
Alibaba gained +8% in Hong Kong overnight on news that Apple will tap the company for the rollout of AI tools in new iPhones sold in China. Alibaba Cloud won out against Baidu and Tencent. Apple’s selection is a testament to the conglomerate’s leading role in the AI space, supported by new models, including those using DeepSeek’s underlying technology.
Real estate was the top-performing sector in both Hong Kong and Mainland China. State-owned (SOE) developer Vanke is said to have secured state funding to fill a gap in its budget and pay expenses for ongoing projects, as well as opening up additional funding sources for the company, including bond issuance. Asian high yield USD-denominated bond issuance reached a 10-year low in 2024, mostly owing to little to no new issuance from China developers, so the major developer’s ability to tap bond markets is important. The support comes at a pivotal time with China’s “Two Sessions” important policy meetings coming up next month. Officials had been hinting at ratcheting up support even further in recent days.
JD.com launched a food delivery service, offering zero-commission delivery to restaurants and stores. The announcement accounted for Meituan’s weakness overnight, as the legacy food delivery giant was down -4% in Hong Kong. In the crowded industry, JD will be going head-to-head not only with Meituan, but also with Alibaba’s Ele.me food delivery service.
MSCI announced the results of its quarterly index review. In Emerging Markets, 14 companies will be added and 58 will be deleted. Of the 14 additions, half of them are China A-shares.
The Hang Seng and Hang Seng Tech indexes both closed higher by +2.64% and +2.70%, respectively, on volume that increased by +30% from yesterday. Mainland investors sold a net -$959 million worth of Hong Kong-listed stocks and ETFs overnight via Southbound Stock Connect. The top-performing sectors were Real Estate, which gained +6.61%, Information Technology, which gained +4.32%, and Communication Services, which gained +3.44%. Meanwhile, the worst-performing sectors were Materials, which fell -1.68%, Health Care, which gained +0.17%, and Utilities, which gained +0.65%.
Shanghai, Shenzhen, and the STAR Board all closed lower by -0.12%, -0.49%, and -1.19%, respectively. The top-performing sectors were Real Estate, which gained +3.46%, Information Technology, which gained +2.26%, and Consumer Staples, which gained +1.31%. Meanwhile, the worst-performing sectors were Energy, which fell -0.62%, Materials, which fell -0.18%, and Utilities, which gained +0.03%. The Renminbi was unchanged versus the US dollar. Copper and steel gained.
Last Night's Performance
| Country/Index | Ticker | 1-Day Change |
|---|---|---|
| China (Hong Kong) | HSI Index | 2.6% |
| Hang Seng Tech | HSTECH Index | 2.7% |
| Hong Kong Turnover | HKTurn Index | 30.8% |
| HK Short Sale Turnover | HKSST Index | 35.3% |
| Short Turnover as a % of HK Turnovr | N/A | 13.1% |
| Southbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions) | N/A | 0 |
| China (Shanghai) | SHCOMP Index | 0.9% |
| China (Shenzhen) | SZCOMP Index | 1.3% |
| China (STAR Board) | Star50 Index | 1.6% |
| Mainland Turnover | .chturn Index | 2.6% |
| Nouthbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions) | N/A | Not Available |
| Jing Daily China Global Luxury Index | CHINALUX Index | 0.2% |
| Japan | NKY Index | 0.4% |
| India | SENSEX Index | -0.2% |
| Indonesia | JCI Index | 1.7% |
| Malaysia | FBMKLCI Index | 0.8% |
| Pakistan | KSE100 Index | -0.3% |
| Philippines | PCOMP Index | 0.9% |
| South Korea | KOSPI Index | 0.4% |
| Taiwan | TWSE Index | -0.4% |
| Thailand | SET Index | 1.1% |
| Singapore | STI Index | 0.4% |
| Australia | AS51 Index | 0.6% |
| MSCI China All Shares Index | # of Stocks | Average 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong Listed | 152 | 2.97 |
| Communication Services | 9 | 3.44 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 30 | 3.26 |
| Consumer Staples | 13 | 2.23 |
| Energy | 7 | 0.98 |
| Financials | 23 | 2.72 |
| Health Care | 13 | 0.17 |
| Industrials | 19 | 2.45 |
| Information Technology | 10 | 4.32 |
| Materials | 10 | -1.68 |
| Real Estate | 6 | 6.61 |
| Utilities | 12 | 0.65 |
| Mainland China Listed | 432 | 0.92 |
| Communication Services | 9 | 0.35 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 31 | 0.53 |
| Consumer Staples | 27 | 1.31 |
| Energy | 16 | -0.62 |
| Financials | 63 | 1.03 |
| Health Care | 40 | 0.08 |
| Industrials | 69 | 0.62 |
| Information Technology | 85 | 2.26 |
| Materials | 68 | -0.18 |
| Real Estate | 7 | 3.46 |
| Utilities | 17 | 0.03 |
| US & Hong Kong Dually Listed | Ticker | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Tencent HK | 700 HK Equity | 3.9 |
| Alibaba HK | 9988 HK Equity | 8.5 |
| JD.com HK | 9618 HK Equity | -1.5 |
| NetEase HK | 9999 HK Equity | 2.7 |
| Yum China HK | 9987 HK Equity | 1.7 |
| Baozun HK | 9991 HK Equity | 9.9 |
| Baidu HK | 9888 HK Equity | 0.2 |
| Autohome HK | 2518 HK Equity | 2.8 |
| Bilibili HK | 9626 HK Equity | 2.9 |
| Trip.com HK | 9961 HK Equity | 1.1 |
| EDU HK | 9901 HK Equity | 4.4 |
| Xpeng HK | 9868 HK Equity | 1.1 |
| Weibo HK | 9898 HK Equity | -0.1 |
| Li Auto HK | 2015 HK Equity | 1.2 |
| Nio Auto HK | 9866 HK Equity | -2.4 |
| Zhihu HK | 2390 HK Equity | 8 |
| KE HK | 2423 HK Equity | 10.2 |
| Tencent Music Entertainment HK | 1698 HK Equity | 3.2 |
| Meituan HK | 3690 HK Equity | -4.1 |
| Hong Kong's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD | 8.5 |
| MEITUAN-CLASS B | -4.1 |
| TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD | 3.9 |
| SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING | 5.8 |
| XIAOMI CORP-CLASS B | 3.6 |
| BYD CO LTD-H | 7.4 |
| HONG KONG EXCHANGES & CLEAR | 5.6 |
| CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK-H | 2.8 |
| PING AN INSURANCE GROUP CO-H | 3.8 |
| CHINA MOBILE LTD | 1.1 |
| Shanghai and Shenzhen's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| EAST MONEY INFORMATION CO-A | 2.5 |
| IEIT SYSTEMS CO LTD-A | 0.1 |
| BEIJING ENLIGHT MEDIA CO L-A | 20 |
| SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURIN-A | 3.4 |
| ZTE CORP-A | 0.7 |
| BYD CO LTD -A | 4.6 |
| SICHUAN CHANGHONG ELECTRIC-A | 6 |
| SHIJIAZHUANG CHANGSHAN BEI-A | 10 |
| HAND ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS-A | 20 |
| MERIT INTERACTIVE CO LTD-A | 5.6 |
Last Night's Exchange Rates, Prices, & Yields
- CNY per USD 7.31 versus 7.31 yesterday
- CNY per EUR 7.55 versus 7.56 yesterday
- Yield on 10-Year Government Bond 1.63% versus 1.63% yesterday
- Yield on 10-Year China Development Bank Bond 1.62% versus 1.63% yesterday
- Copper Price +0.35%
- Steel Price +0.24%
