Asian equities were largely higher except for Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong while China and South Korea were closed today.
Asian equities were largely higher except for Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong while China and South Korea were closed today. Concerns around the US’ debt ceiling weighed on countries with strong US economic ties while Southeast Asia was resilient. Chinese internet companies are entering their quiet period before reporting Q3 earnings beginning in November. The companies will be hosting calls with analysts in the meantime, which Alibaba did last week. Price targets for Alibaba were reduced given how far the stock remains below the previous price targets, but there was nothing overly concerning to report from an EPS perspective. I had speculated that post Q3 could be a catalyst for the China internet space as managers could, in theory, dip their toes back into the names with no one knowing until the end of Q4 when holdings will be released again. However, that did not occur overnight as Hong Kong was off though volumes were very light at just 66% of the 1-year average with China on holiday until Thursday as the Hang Seng fell to the bottom of its range at the 24,000 level. Clean technology plays such as electric vehicles (EVs), solar, and wind were off on energy shortage concerns. Real estate was the only positive sector today as Evergrande (3333 HK) and Everegrande Property Services (6666 HK) were suspended pending an announcement.
