E-Commerce Rebounds On Price War Pledge, Week in Review
5 Min. Read Time
Week in Review
- Asian equities were mixed but mostly lower for the week as Pakistan and Thailand outperformed, while Hong Kong and Singapore underperformed.
- Health care stocks had a solid week, continuing their gains on Hengrui Pharmaceuticals’ new tie-up with multinational GSK, while biotechnology contract research organization WuXi Apptec announced that its net profit for the first half of 2025 doubled.
- Battery giant CATL reported a net income increase of +34% for the second quarter of 2025, despite overcapacity and falling battery prices.
- Trade talks progressed, as the US announced a deal with the EU and extended the deadline for negotiations with China by three months.
Last Night’s Key News
Asian equities were mostly lower overnight on increased trade rhetoric and the hiking of tariffs on Canada and a litany of other countries, though Malaysia and Pakistan outperformed while Korea and Thailand underperformed.
China was left out of yesterday’s tariff blitz, which focused on smaller trading partners. Markets in China were relatively resilient as a result. However, they were somewhat weighed by another indication from the S&P purchasing managers’ index (PMI), that manufacturing activity contracted last month from the month prior.
The National Reform & Development Commission (NDRC) held a press conference last night to provide an update on the status of efforts to curb excess capacity and “involution” or Phyrric victories, i.e. self-defeating competition, and a general economic policy update. Spokespeople for the commission said that they will be enabling more jobs to be created by private enterprises in the domestic economy, as well as calling out specific examples of extreme competition, especially in E-Commerce.
Internet names were mostly higher after E-Commerce majors JD, Meituan, and Alibaba all made renewed promises to end “disorderly competition” in response to the NDRC press conference. Analysts are pointing to a return to more sustainable growth for these platforms, once again. JD, which was higher overnight nonetheless, has the most to lose if it cannot continue its high subsidies for instant commerce. The company's margins were already relatively low going into this contest, and growth had been slowing. Alibaba and Meituan, on the other hand, will likely benefit from "anti-involution".
Solar stocks were top-performers as a fund worth RMB 50 billion will be set up to buy out and shut down polysilicon excess capacity.
Electric vehicle maker Xpeng outperformed after it reported vehicle deliveries for July that increased +229% year-over-year (YoY) to over 36,000 units.
Bank research recently highlighted NetEase and the gaming industry showing positive growth momentum and resilience. We have already seen NetEase benefit from recently resuming its licensing deal with Microsoft/Blizzard, though on better terms than previously.
| Country / Index | Ticker | 1-Day Change |
|---|---|---|
| China (Hong Kong) | HSI Index | -1.1% |
| Hang Seng Tech | HSTECH Index | -1% |
| Hong Kong Turnover | HKTurn Index | -20.6% |
| Hong Kong Short Sale Turnover | HKSST Index | -21.6% |
| Short Turnover as a % of Hong Kong Turnover | N/A | 15.8% |
| Southbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions) | N/A | 1,563 |
| China (Shanghai) | SHCOMP Index | -0.4% |
| China (Shenzhen) | SZCOMP Index | 0% |
| China (STAR Board) | Star50 Index | -1.1% |
| Mainland Turnover | .chturn Index | -17.4% |
| Northbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions) | N/A | Not Available |
| Jing Daily China Global Luxury Index | CHINALUX Index | -0.8% |
| Japan | NKY Index | -0.7% |
| India | SENSEX Index | -0.7% |
| Indonesia | JCI Index | 0.7% |
| Malaysia | FBMKLCI Index | 1.3% |
| Pakistan | KSE100 Index | 1.2% |
| Philippines | PCOMP Index | 0.9% |
| South Korea | KOSPI Index | -3.9% |
| Taiwan | TWSE Index | -0.5% |
| Thailand | SET Index | -1.9% |
| Singapore | STI Index | -0.5% |
| Australia | AS51 Index | -0.9% |
| Vietnam | VNINDEX Index | -0.5% |
| Indicator | Hong Kong | Mainland |
|---|---|---|
| Today's Volume as % of 1-Year Average | 119 | 140 |
| Advancing Stocks | 13 (Hang Seng) | 119 (CSI 300) |
| Declining Stocks | 72 (Hang Seng) | 169 (CSI 300) |
| Outperforming Factors | Growth | Growth |
| Underperforming Factors | Value | Value |
| Top Sectors | Industrials, Consumer Discretionary, Information Technology | Consumer Discretionary, Communication Services, Utilities |
| Bottom Sectors | Energy, Communication Services, Health Care | Energy, Information Technology, Health Care |
| MSCI China All Shares Index | # of Stocks | Average 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong Listed | 151 | -1.13 |
| Communication Services | 9 | -2.46 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 28 | 0.29 |
| Consumer Staples | 13 | -1.9 |
| Energy | 7 | -3.07 |
| Financials | 23 | -1.55 |
| Health Care | 13 | -2.18 |
| Industrials | 20 | 0.37 |
| Information Technology | 10 | 0.06 |
| Materials | 10 | -0.52 |
| Real Estate | 6 | -0.68 |
| Utilities | 12 | -1.03 |
| Mainland China Listed | 404 | -0.75 |
| Communication Services | 6 | -0.28 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 31 | 0.03 |
| Consumer Staples | 24 | -0.39 |
| Energy | 13 | -2.2 |
| Financials | 64 | -0.41 |
| Health Care | 31 | -1.25 |
| Industrials | 64 | -0.6 |
| Information Technology | 91 | -1.57 |
| Materials | 58 | -0.75 |
| Real Estate | 6 | -0.42 |
| Utilities | 16 | -0.29 |
| US & Hong Kong Dually Listed | Ticker | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Tencent HK | 700 HK Equity | -2.7 |
| Alibaba HK | 9988 HK Equity | 1 |
| JD.com HK | 9618 HK Equity | -0.2 |
| NetEase HK | 9999 HK Equity | -1.5 |
| Yum China HK | 9987 HK Equity | 0.7 |
| Baozun HK | 9991 HK Equity | -2.9 |
| Baidu HK | 9888 HK Equity | 1.1 |
| Autohome HK | 2518 HK Equity | 0 |
| Bilibili HK | 9626 HK Equity | -3 |
| Trip.com HK | 9961 HK Equity | -1.5 |
| EDU HK | 9901 HK Equity | -1.9 |
| Xpeng HK | 9868 HK Equity | -0.4 |
| Weibo HK | 9898 HK Equity | -1.8 |
| Li Auto HK | 2015 HK Equity | -3.2 |
| Nio Auto HK | 9866 HK Equity | 8.6 |
| Zhihu HK | 2390 HK Equity | -0.2 |
| KE HK | 2423 HK Equity | -0.4 |
| Tencent Music Entertainment HK | 1698 HK Equity | -2.6 |
| Meituan HK | 3690 HK Equity | 0.5 |
| Hong Kong's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD | -2.7 |
| ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD | 1 |
| MEITUAN-CLASS B | 0.5 |
| XIAOMI CORP-CLASS B | 0.5 |
| BYD CO LTD-H | 0.7 |
| INNOSCIENCE SUZHOU TECHNOL-H | 30.9 |
| HONG KONG EXCHANGES & CLEAR | -2.3 |
| KUAISHOU TECHNOLOGY | -3.1 |
| PING AN INSURANCE GROUP CO-H | -1.9 |
| SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURI-H | -2.1 |
| Shanghai and Shenzhen's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| ZHONGJI INNOLIGHT CO LTD-A | -3.2 |
| CHINA NORTHERN RARE EARTH -A | -4 |
| EOPTOLINK TECHNOLOGY INC L-A | -3.2 |
| WUXI APPTEC CO LTD-A | -3.4 |
| FOXCONN INDUSTRIAL INTERNE-A | -4.7 |
| VICTORY GIANT TECHNOLOGY -A | -0.4 |
| CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHN-A | -0.6 |
| EAST MONEY INFORMATION CO-A | -0.3 |
| SHENZHEN ENVICOOL TECHNOLO-A | 2 |
| DOSILICON CO LTD-A | -11.4 |
Last Night’s Exchange Rates, Prices, & Yields
- CNY per USD 7.20 versus 7.20 yesterday
- CNY per EUR 8.30 versus 8.23 yesterday
- Yield on 10-Year Government Bond 1.71% versus 1.70% yesterday
- Yield on 10-Year China Development Bank Bond 1.76% versus 1.77% yesterday
- Copper Price -0.05%
- Steel Price -1.23%
