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☆ China’s 618 shopping festival begins with biggest-ever Apple price cuts and a boycott
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —Apple is offering unprecedented price cuts in China as big brands and retailers launch promotions for the annual “618” shopping festival in the face of sluggish consumer demand. The JD.com Inc. headquarters during a ceremony marking company's 20th anniversary and 618 shopping event in Beijing, China, on Sunday, June 18, 2023. The 618 shopping festival, a key barometer of consumption in the country, has seen growing competition by e-commerce sites and retailing brands to offer discounts. One statement, issued by 10 publishing houses in Beijing, said the boycott was a necessary move to “maintain the stability and prosperity” of the book publishing market. Even major state-owned publishing companies voiced opposition to “chaotic” price wars.

Persons: Apple, Alibaba —, Alibaba, Rihanna, iPads, ”, Jefferies Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Apple, Huawei, Vivo, JD.com, Inc, Bloomberg, Getty, Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi, Shanghai Century Publishing Locations: Hong Kong, China, Shanghai, Beijing

George Clinical declined to comment. The private equity firm has entered a deal to buy most of George Clinical, the clinical research organisation said in December, adding the transaction was subject to FIRB approval. George Clinical did not disclose a sale price but said its parent, the George Institute, a medical research group, would retain an undefined stake. The George Clinical deal would involve the holding of healthcare and patient data which is considered sensitive in Australia. Hillhouse has offered to ensure data remains onshore and not be shared overseas, the people said.

Persons: George Clinical, Hillhouse, Zhang Lei, George, George Clinical's, Scott Murdoch, Kane Wu, Sumeet Chatterjee, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Hillhouse Capital, Foreign Investment, Board, of, Treasury, George Institute, Yale University, Tencent Holdings, HK, JD.com Inc, Baidu Inc, Koninklijke Philips NV, Thomson, & $ Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, United States, Australia, China, Refinitiv, Netherlands, Asia, Pacific, Sydney

☆ Futures subdued as investors eye bank earnings, Fed cues
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures up: Dow 0.07%, S&P 0.10%, Nasdaq 0.01%April 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were largely flat on Monday as investors awaited more bank earnings and views from Federal Reserve policymakers that could shape expectations around when the central bank will pause its monetary policy tightening. Wall Street ended lower on Friday as a barrage of mixed economic data appeared to affirm another Fed interest rate hike in May, dampening investor enthusiasm after a series of big U.S. bank earnings launched the first-quarter reporting season. U.S. central bank officials including New York Fed President John Williams and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester are scheduled to speak later this week. ET (1230 GMT) is expected to show business conditions in New York state improved in April after slumping in the previous month. ET, Dow e-minis were up 24 points, or 0.07%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.25 points, or 0.10%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 1 point, or 0.01%.

The Labor Department data showed headline and core CPI in March rose 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively, on a month-on-month basis. "We are finally starting to see the cumulative effects of the relentless rate hikes," said Peter Andersen, founder at Andersen Capital Management. US inflation, Fed rates and marketsMinutes from the U.S. central bank's policy meeting in March will also be watched closely by investors later in the day for further clues on the trajectory of interest rates. The Fed raised rates by 25 bps last month and signaled it was on the verge of pausing further rate hikes. ET, Dow e-minis were up 220 points, or 0.65%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 33 points, or 0.80%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 130 points, or 0.99%.

☆ Futures edge higher ahead of inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures up: Dow 0.19%, S&P 0.13%, Nasdaq 0.06%April 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday as investors awaited key inflation data and minutes from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting for clues on whether U.S. interest rates are near their peak. The Labor Department data, which will be published at 8:30 a.m. US inflation, Fed rates and marketsMinutes from the U.S. central bank's policy meeting in March will be watched closely by investors later in the day for fresh clues on the trajectory of interest rates. The Fed in March raised rates by 25 bps and signaled it was on the verge of pausing further rate hikes. ET, Dow e-minis were up 64 points, or 0.19%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 5.25 points, or 0.13%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 8 points, or 0.06%.

The Labor Department data showed headline and core CPI in March rose 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively, on a month-on-month basis. Stubbornly high rents kept underlying inflation pressures simmering, likely ensuring that the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates again next month. US inflation, Fed rates and MarketsMajor technology and other growth stocks such as Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and Apple Inc (AAPL.O) edged higher as Treasury yields slipped. Minutes from the U.S. central bank's policy meeting in March will also be watched closely by investors later in the day for further clues on the trajectory of interest rates. The Fed raised rates by 25 bps last month and signaled it was on the verge of pausing further rate hikes.

☆ Hopes for Hong Kong’s IPO Market Rest on Alibaba, JD.com Carve-Outs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Dave Sebastian | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Plans by two of China’s biggest technology companies to sell shares in their subsidiaries could give a jolt of confidence to a Hong Kong IPO market that has been in the doldrums for more than a year. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which is listed in Hong Kong and New York, said last week it would reorganize into six independently run companies and explore IPOs for them. Not long after, smaller rival JD.com Inc. filed paperwork in the Asian financial hub to sell shares in its property and industrial units, which The Wall Street Journal reported were aiming to raise about $1 billion each this year.

☆ Shares and bonds ride high after soothing euro zone data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Government bonds have gained as much as 5%, gold is 8% higher, while oil is down and the dollar has barely budged. The euro zone inflation numbers showed consumer prices rising 6.9% in March after an 8.5% increase in February, representing the sharpest deceleration since Eurostat started collecting data in 1991. Japan's Nikkei (.N225) also jumped 1% on Friday，as inflation data for the capital Tokyo highlighted broadening price pressures. The euro , which hit a one-week high against the dollar overnight on sticky German inflation data, dipped back under $1.09 again after the euro zone data but was still set for a 3% monthly rise. U.S. crude futures were flat at $74.40 per barrel, while Brent crude futures slipped 0.1% to $78.52 per barrel.

☆ Asian shares ride high in Q1 but keep vigil on inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The buoyant mood is likely to run into resistance in Europe, with caution setting in ahead of the euro zone inflation data. The pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures was flat, while S&P 500 futures eked out a gain of 0.2%. It is on course for a quarterly gain of 3.6%, after surging 12% in the three months that ended in December. Japan's Nikkei (.N225) also leaped 1%，as inflation data for the capital Tokyo highlighted broadening price pressures. That compared with an overwhelming bet on a 25 basis point hike a month ago before the banking volatility started.

In a filing on Thurday, JD.com said it would continue to hold a stake of more than 50% in the units, JD Industrials and JD Property, upon completion of the proposed spin-off. JD.com said the size and structure of its units' initial public offerings had not yet been finalised. Two sources with knowledge of the floats said the two JD units are seeking to raise $1 billion each in the IPO. In their listing prospectuses filed later on Thursday, JD Industrials and JD Property disclosed annual revenues of 14.1 billion yuan ($2.05 billion) and 2.3 billion yuan, respectively. UBS and Citic Securities are the financial advisers for JD Industrials, while UBS is the financial adviser for JD Property.

☆ JD.com’s Property and Industrial Units Seek About $1 Billion Each in Hong Kong IPOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Dave Sebastian | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Workers sort packages for delivery at a JD.com warehouse in Beijing. JD.com Inc.’s property and industrials units are targeting to raise about $1 billion each in Hong Kong initial public offerings, people familiar with the matter said, adding to the supply of potentially sizable deals that could hit the market this year. The Chinese e-commerce giant said on Thursday that it is planning to spin off Jingdong Property Inc. and Jingdong Industrials Inc. by listing both companies in the city.

☆ China's JD.com to spin off industrial, property units in Hong Kong float
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, March 30 (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc (9618.HK) said on Thursday it planned to spin off its property and industrial units and list them on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Upon completion of the proposed spin off of JD Industrials and JD Property, JD.com said it would continue to indirectly hold more than 50% of the shares in both the units, which will remain as subsidiaries of the company. The size and structure of JD.com units' initial public offerings have not yet been finalised. The e-commerce firm, which missed fourth-quarter revenue forecasts, said earlier this month that rebuilding consumer confidence would take time after the lifting of strict pandemic-related curbs late last year. Reporting by Twinnie Siu in Hong Kong and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Alibaba's breakup lifts hopes China's regulatory winter is thawing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The move represented a light at the end of the tunnel for many investors who had seen a wave of regulatory blitzes as a major cloud hanging over China's private sector. Reuters GraphicsAlibaba said on Tuesday it would split into six units - Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group. He was spotted on Monday in Hangzhou, home to Alibaba, just one day before the company announced the restructuring. Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), China's largest gaming company, saw shares rise as much as 5.1%. Alibaba's split may pave the way for other Chinese tech giants to undergo similar restructuring, CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said.

☆ Asian stocks rally as bank jitters calm, Alibaba lifts mood
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Alibaba's Hong Kong shares (9988.HK) shot up 15%, while the company's U.S.-listed shares closed 14.3% higher. The news lifted investor confidence in the wider Chinese tech sector, with shares of Alibaba's e-commerce rival JD.com Inc (9618.HK) 7% higher, and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) jumping 5%. "Alibaba's split may pave the way for other Chinese tech giants to do similar," CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said. "This helps break down the monopolistic power of these conglomerates, which complies with the Chinese government's regulatory overhaul over antitrust issues." Futures indicated European stocks were set to open higher, with Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.41%, German DAX futures up 0.38% and FTSE futures up 0.08%.

☆ Alibaba's breakup plan lifts hopes China's tech crackdown is ending
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The group's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped as much as 16.3%, tracking a 14.3% rally in its U.S.-listed shares overnight . Its e-commerce rival JD.com Inc (9618.HK) rose 7% and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) gained 5%. That compared with a 2.3% jump in benchmark Hang Seng Index (.HSI) and a 3.2% gain for the Hang Seng Tech Index (.HSTECH). Brian Tycango, who tracks China's tech sector at Stansberry Research, says that in addition to enabling higher valuations, the restructuring better protects individual divisions from future government regulation. "Any new regulations will likely not affect the whole company now - just the particular division that that regulation covers," Tycango told Reuters.

☆ Asian stocks rally as banking anxiety eases; Alibaba surges
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was 0.82% higher, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) advanced 0.49%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged over 2%, buoyed by Alibaba (9988.HK) after the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate announced its break-up plans. Alibaba's Hong Kong shares (9988.HK) shot up 15%, while the company's U.S.-listed shares closed 14.3% higher. Worries over inflation have prompted investors to recalculate what they expect the Fed to do in its next meeting in May. In the foreign exchange markets, the dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six peers, was mostly flat, having eased 0.3% overnight on improving risk appetite.

☆ Alibaba's Hong Kong shares surge 16% on split-up plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares of Alibaba Group (9988.HK) soared on Wednesday, marking a vote of confidence from investors after the company announced a major restructuring plan. Shares of Alibaba's e-commerce rival JD.com Inc (9618.HK) were up 7%, and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) jumped 5% on Wednesday morning. That compared with a 2.3% jump in benchmark Hang Seng Index (.HSI) and a 3.2% gain for the Hang Seng Tech Index (.HSTECH). One day before the re-organization was announced, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who had been out of mainland China since late 2021, was spotted visiting a primary school in Hangzhou, the city where Alibaba is headquartered. Reporting by Josh Horwitz in Shanghai and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Futures rise after bank rout, CPI data awaited
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ET (1330 GMT) from the Labor Department, will feed into the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision at its March meeting. On a yearly basis, CPI grew 6.0% in February, moderating from a 6.4% in rise the previous month. SVB Financial's (SIVB.O) sudden shutdown and fears of risks to other banks hammered the sector and broader markets in the past few days. "The CPI figures out later will be watched super-closely as another hot reading will reinforce expectations that a rate rise, albeit smaller, will be on the cards next week." ET, Dow e-minis were up 117 points, or 0.37%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 16.25 points, or 0.42%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 56 points, or 0.47%.

☆ Li Qiang becomes China's premier, tasked with reviving economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Li Qiang, likely to become the next premier, is pictured here speaking at a major annual financial conference in Shanghai in 2020. Li Qiang, the former Communist Party chief of Shanghai, took office on Saturday as China's premier, the country's No.2 post, putting the close ally of President Xi Jinping in charge of reviving an economy battered by three years of COVID-19 curbs. Li Qiang is the first premier since the founding of the People's Republic never to have served previously in the central government, meaning he may face a steep learning curve in the initial months on the job, analysts said. Still, Li's close ties with Xi - Li was Xi's chief of staff between 2004 and 2007, when the latter was provincial party secretary of Zhejiang province - will empower him to get things done, leadership-watchers said. "My reading of the situation is that Li Qiang will have a lot more leeway and authority within the system," said Trey McArver, co-founder of consultancy Trivium China.

☆ China's JD.com reports higher fourth-quarter adjusted profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 9 (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc (9618.HK), reported a higher quarterly adjusted profit on Thursday as China lifted strict pandemic-related curbs late last year. JD.com's net income attributable to ordinary shareholders in the fourth quarter was 3 billion yuan ($430.92 million), compared with a net loss of 5.2 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue rose 7.1% to 295.4 billion yuan in the three months ended December, missing analysts' estimates of 296.17 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv data. Parts of China remained under strict lockdown for most of the December quarter, with shoppers holding back on spending amid continued economic uncertainty. On an adjusted basis, the Beijing-based company earned 4.81 yuan per American depositary share in the reported quarter, compared with 2.21 yuan per share a year earlier.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 211,000 for the week ended March 4, the Labor Department said on Thursday. "This could be a game changer for today's market," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. The gains pushed up the S&P 500 communication services (.SPLRCL), consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) and information technology (.SPLRCT) sectors between 0.4% and 0.6%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.64-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.06-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and 11 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 54 new lows.

☆ Baidu's ChatGPT-like app will revolutionise its search engine, says CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, Feb 23 (Reuters) - China's Baidu Inc (9888.HK) will use its ChatGPT-like app Ernie Bot to create a "revolutionary" version of its popular search engine, the company's CEO said on Wednesday. Ahead of Ernie Bot’s launch in March, Baidu CEO Robin Li told reporters on a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter results that users would be more dependent on the Baidu search engine once it was embedded with the chatbot. He added that online advertising, the company's main source of revenue, would also be boosted by the integration of Ernie Bot into the search engine. Since early February, more than 400 companies have signed up to join the Ernie Bot community as early users of the app, Baidu has said. He also said Ernie Bot was "state of the art" among large AI-driven language models in terms of understanding China's language and culture.

SYDNEY/HONG KONG, Feb 20 (Reuters) - New rules laying out how Chinese companies can list outside mainland China will often mean getting a nod from several domestic government agencies, potentially making for a lengthy approval process, investment bankers say. On one hand, the rules provide clarity after a regulatory crackdown by Beijing since mid-2021 that has slowed U.S. listings by Chinese firms to a trickle. Those hoops, combined with U.S.-Sino tensions over a multitude of issues from suspected spy balloons to trade friction, means a rush of Chinese firms seeking initial public offerings in New York is unlikely. Last year, U.S. listings of Chinese firms were worth less than $230 million, according to Refinitiv data, a massive drop from $12.9 billion in 2021. "I don't think an overseas listing for the start-up would get the Chinese regulatory nod due to data security.

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Chinese dealmaker Bao Fan, founder of investment bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd (1911.HK), has gone missing in the latest disappearance of a top business executive, unnerving investors and sending its stock down as much as 50% on Friday. A China Renaissance spokesperson referred Reuters request for comment on Friday to the investment bank's public filing. The firm earned $20.6 million in Chinese related investment banking fees in 2022, down from $43.13 million a year earlier, the data showed. Bao started China Renaissance in 2005 as a two-person team, seeking to match capital-hungry startups with venture capitalist and private equity investors. China Renaissance is also an active investor in the tech sector.

☆ Factbox-Five facts about missing star Chinese dealmaker and his firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Xie Yu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Well-known Chinese dealmaker Bao Fan, founder of investment bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd, has gone missing in the latest disappearance of a top business executive in the country, unnerving investors. FILE PHOTO: Fan Bao founder and CEO of China Renaissance speaks at the WSJD Live conference in Laguna Beach, California October 25, 2016. Here are five facts about Bao and his firm --* Bao entered China’s prestigious Fudan University in 1989, and later received his master’s degree from the BI Norwegian School of Management. Its investment management business has assets worth around 48.6 billion yuan by the end of last June. It earned $20.6 million in Chinese related investment banking fees in 2022, down from $43.13 million a year earlier.

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