Stocks in major Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on January 20, but before discussing stocks, let’s have a look at the shares of world-famous tech giant Alibaba. It is worth noting that, Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba jumped 8.52% following the reappearance of founder Jack Ma.
As a reminder, the company’s founder appeared in a video posted on Chinese social media addressing rural teachers as part of one of his charity foundation’s initiatives. People should take into account that, it was his first appearance after weeks out of the spotlight as his companies face increased regulatory scrutiny. Jack Ma is one of the most famous business magnates not only in China but around the world as well. It is not surprising that the reappearance of Jack Ma affected the shares of Alibaba.
Importantly, shares of other Chinese tech firms listed in Hong Kong also strengthened their positions on Wednesday. For example, tech giant Tencent added 3.74%. At the same time, Meituan gained 9.09%. The broader Hang Seng Tech index advanced 5.44% on the day to 9,885.22.
Alibaba and other interesting details
As mentioned earlier, Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba surged 8.52% on Wednesday. Let’s have a look at the stocks in major markets across Asia-Pacific.
Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.08% to end its trading day at 29,962.47.
Importantly, mainland Chinese stocks strengthened their positions on January 20. The Shanghai Composite added 0.47% to 3,583.09. In the meantime, the Shenzhen Component gained 1.462% to 15,223.36.
It is worth mentioning that, the moves in Chinese stocks came as the one-year prime rate (LPR) and five-year LPR in China were both left unchanged at 3.85% and 4.65%, respectively.
South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.71% to end its trading day at 3,114.55.
However, stocks in Japan fell on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.38% to 28,523.26. At the same time, the Topix index fell 0.34% to 1,849.58.
Interestingly, in Australia the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.41% to 6,770.40.
Let’s have a look at the shares of South Korean automaker Kia Motors. Shares of the world-famous automaker jumped 5.04% after the firm said it is looking at electric car projects with multiple firms. Importantly, that information came after a local online publication reported that the automaker’s parent company Hyundai Motor Group had decided Kia would be in charge of the proposed cooperation with Apple regarding the electric cars.
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