Alibaba, JD And Tencent Lead Hang Seng Lower As New US Sanctions Weigh; Nio Rivals Xpeng, Li Auto Also Dip

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA), JD.Com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD), Tencent Holdings Inc. (OTC: TCEHY), Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) and Xpeng Inc. (NYSE: XPEV) fell in Hong Kong on Thursday, while Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) traded higher.

What’s Moving: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s shares traded 2.4% lower at HKD 118.10 in Hong Kong, while peer JD.Com’s shares have lost 4.5% to HKD 286.00.

Alibaba is hosting its virtual investor day event today and Friday.

See Also: How To Buy Alibaba (BABA) Stock

Tech conglomerate Tencent’s shares have fallen 1.1% to HKD 450.80, while technology company Baidu’s shares have risen 0.7% to HKD 137.50.

Electric vehicle maker Xpeng’s shares are down 2.0% to HKD 168.70 and peer Li Auto has lost 1.3% to HKD 118.90.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index opened lower on Thursday and was down 0.7% at the time of writing. The index closed 0.9% lower on Wednesday, extending losses to a fourth straight session.

Why Is It Moving? The Hang Seng Index fell as investors worried about more U.S. sanctions on Chinese firms.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on four Chinese painkiller makers as part of its efforts to curb the addiction epidemic that killed a record 100,000 Americans last year, according to a report by AFP News, via the South China Morning Post.

In addition, the Biden administration is considering imposing tougher sanctions on China’s largest chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Investors also turned cautious after the Federal Reserve said it will double the pace at which it tapers bond purchases to $30 billion a month and also projected three interest rate hikes in 2022.

Meanwhile, a consortium of offshore bondholders of Kaisa Group Holdings has offered to buy up to $1 billion worth of the company’s onshore non-performing loans from its onshore creditors as part of an attempt to rescue the embattled property developer, the South China Morning Post reported.

Shares of Chinese companies closed notably lower in U.S. trading on Wednesday even as the major averages in the U.S. ended notably higher following the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement.

Alibaba’s shares closed almost 3.3% lower, while Nio’s shares ended lower by almost 4.7%.

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