Benzinga | Oct 20, 2021 12:31AM EDT

Alibaba Shoots Up 8% In Hong Kong As Jack Ma Lands In Europe, JD And Others Follow Course

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

What's Moving Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's shares traded 7.7% higher at HKD 177.40 in Hong Kong, while technology company Baidu's shares have risen almost 4% to HKD 176.00 and e-commerce company JD.Com's shares are up almost 2.5% to HKD 331.00.

Tech conglomerate Tencent Holdings' shares have gained 2.1% to HKD 509.50.

See Also: How To Buy Alibaba (BABA) Stock

Meanwhile, electric vehicle maker Xpeng's shares have lost almost 1.8% to HKD 166.30, while Li Auto's shares traded 1.2% higher at HKD 120.00.

It was reported on Tuesday that urban air mobility company HT Aero, an affiliate of Xpeng, has raised more than $500 million from outside investors in a funding round.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 1.1% at the time of writing. The index closed almost 1.5% higher on Tuesday.

Why Is It Moving? The Hang Seng Index is rising for the fourth straight day on Wednesday, led by gains in Alibaba and other tech stocks.

Alibaba's shares are extending gains amid speculation that the company's ties with Chinese regulatory authorities are improving.

Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma is currently in Europe for a series of business meetings, marking his first overseas trip in more than a year, the South China Morning Post reported.

Nevertheless, investors remain cautious amid worries about China's property sector following the debt crisis at China Evergrande Group (OTC:EGRNY).

Evergrande has been forced to abandon its plans to sell a majority stake in its property services unit, while smaller property developer Sinic Holdings Group Co. formally declared it defaulted on $246 million in bonds, according to a report by Reuters.

In addition, Moody's Investors Service has slashed the credit rating of another real-estate developer Kaisa Group.

Meanwhile, China's National Development and Reform Commission said it is exploring ways to intervene in the coal market as part of the government's efforts to stem surging prices amid the energy crisis, Bloomberg reported.

Shares of Chinese companies closed mostly higher in U.S. trading on Tuesday after the major averages in the U.S. ended with strong gains.

Alibaba's shares closed 6.1% higher, while Nio's shares ended higher by almost 1.1%.