Fed wariness causes Hong Kong tech giants to fall, by Ambar Warbar.
listed in Hong Kong On Tuesday, Chinese technology stocks fell even more, just like stocks on Wall Street, after a hawkish signal from the Federal Reserve shook the industry.
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In Hong Kong trade, Baidu Inc (HK:9888), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HK:9988), and Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700), China’s top three technology companies, slumped between 1.2% and 2%. On Monday, Alibaba’s (NYSE:BABA) and Baidu’s (NASDAQ:BIDU) U.S. listings also dropped significantly.
The three stocks were among the most heavily weighted on the Hang Seng index, which fell around 1% on Tuesday after falling 0.7% on Monday.
Other prominent technology firms, such as Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd. (HK:0241) and Lenovo Group (HK:0990), fell by more than 3%.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s statement that the central bank has no intention of a dovish turn and will continue rapidly rising rates has resulted in a third consecutive session of losses for the tech sector. His remarks caused the currency and Treasury rates to rise.
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Rising interest rates are unfavourable for technology equities because they devalue the sector’s future earnings against a stronger dollar. Traders now anticipate a stronger likelihood of a September rate rise by the Fed of 75 basis points.
The NASDAQ Composite index declined by more than 5% over the course of the past two trading sessions due to concerns around this issue. In addition to rising interest rates, the Nasdaq has lost nearly 20% of its value this year.
As more governments raise interest rates to fight inflation, the outlook for technology companies has gotten worse after they had a record-setting two years.
But Beijing’s crackdown on suspected antitrust violations has hurt Chinese internet giants more than their competitors around the world.
China’s slowing economic development has also had a significant impact on earnings this year.
Baidu will publish its quarterly profits later today. In the June quarter, Alibaba and Tencent posted better-than-anticipated profits.
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Hong Kong Tech Giants’ Drop Extends Due to Fed Uncertainty