Alibaba, JD.com, WuXi Bio lead Hong Kong stock rebound on fund inflows, Fed rate focus

Hong Kong stocks climbed from a one-month low, joining a broader rally in Asia-Pacific markets amid bullish bets on global rate cuts. Alibaba Group Holding led tech leaders higher on signs of surging demand from mainland-based investment funds.

The Hang Seng Index rose 1 per cent to 17,274.72 at the local noon trading break, after sliding on Wednesday to the lowest level since August 9. The Tech Index advanced 1.4 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index was little changed.

E-commerce leader Alibaba, which owns the Post, jumped 2.5 per cent to HK$83.50. Onshore investors were net buyers of HK$11.6 billion (US$1.49 billion) worth of its shares since Tuesday, when it became an eligible component of the Stock Connect scheme. Rival JD.com added 2.7 per cent to HK$104.70 and food delivery platform Meituan gained 4 per cent to HK$124.20.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

The Federal Reserve is expected to ease policy at its meeting next week, with some economists calling for jumbo rate cuts after Chairman Jerome Powell said that it was time to change course. The Fed has been on hold over the past nine meetings, after hiking 11 times from the "lift-off" in March 2022.

"Short-term Fed rate cut trades are heating up, potentially providing some structural opportunities in the market" though overall conditions may remain volatile, Dai Qing, a strategist at Changjiang Securities, said in a note on Thursday.

Elsewhere, WuXi Biologics rallied 5.3 per cent to HK$11.90 and its affiliate Wuxi AppTec appreciated 7.4 per cent to HK$36.95, recovering from a sell-off induced by a US move to ban their participation in government contracts.

Today's gain helped trim the Hang Seng Index's decline this week to 1 per cent. The benchmark slumped 3 per cent last week after government reports showed China's economic growth fell short of expectations. Global investors remained wary about geopolitical risks ahead of the US general election.

Asian stocks traded mostly higher as traders looked past the elevated inflation data to focus on the rate cut-outlook. Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 3.1 per cent, while South Korea's Kospi gained 1.5 per cent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.7 per cent.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.