His announcement sent semiconductor names among other growth stocks higher in both Mainland China and Hong Kong.
Asian equities were largely higher except for Japan, which was off. Today will be one of the largest trading days globally as both S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell indexes rebalance along with Quad Witching in the US (the expiration of stock and index futures and options). Asian volumes were up significantly as index providers dictate what passive managers buy and sell. Xiaomi was added back to FTSE indexes, gaining +1.77% as the most heavily traded stock in Hong Kong. We saw significant outperformance in growth/tech today in both Hong Kong and China today as Shanghai (mega/large-cap value sectors) was down by -0.01% while Shenzhen (large/mid-cap growth sectors) was up +0.81% and the STAR Board (small-cap growth sectors) gained +1.44%. This was not limited to China as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng TECH Index gained +1.77% while the overall Hang Seng Index was up +0.85%, South Korea’s Kospi was up +0.09% versus the Kosdaq, which was up +1.21%. Initial reports that JD.com’s 618 (June 18 th) sales event is going very well after selling $136 billion worth of goods last year helped fuel the growth rally.618 is JD.com’s response to Alibaba’s November Singles Day event. A strong 618 event should be good for Walmart WMT, which owns 5.39% of the company and has historically promoted its goods on 618. Hong Kong-listed sports and athletic apparel company Anta sports gained +6.18% after announcing that its net income may rise +110% in the first half of 2021, which led to several broker upgrades. Value sectors were lower in China and Hong Kong as energy stocks were smashed. Kweichow Moutai was down -3.06%, which is a significant amount considering the lack of news about the company overnight. There is chatter that the US FCC will ban Chinese-made security cameras, which, in theory, should have weighed on Hikvision though it gained +1.
