Chinese tech stocks mostly increase as Meituan jumps more than 11% in mixed Asia trading

March 29, 2022: -Shares in Chinese tech firms mostly increased in mixed Asia-Pacific trading on Monday, with oil prices falling over 3%.

By the Hong Kong market close on Monday, shares of Meituan soared 11.56%, while Tencent gained 2.81%.

On Friday, Meituan posted better-than-expected revenue for the last three months of 2021. The company’s revenue for the fourth quarter came in at 49.52 billion yuan ($7.78 billion), above meant analyst expectations for a 49.2 billion yuan print, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon.

The Hang Seng Tech index increased 2.62% to 4,491.01. However, some Chinese tech stocks slipped: JD.com dropped 1.75% while SenseTime shed 1.9%.

“Even if you look now, where we see huge and sharp falls so that valuations now are at many reasonable levels, I think it’s still quite difficult for investors to build the courage to go back in at these levels,” Mark Konyn, group chief investment officer at AIA, told CNBC on Monday.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong advanced 1.31% to close at 21,684.97.

Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite is gaining 0.07% to close at 3,214.50, while the Shenzhen component sheds 1.017% to 11,949.94.

Data released over the weekend showed that Chinese industrial profits grew in the first two months. According to data released Sunday, profits at China’s industrial firms increased 5.0% for the January to February period compared with a year earlier.

Investors have been watching for clues on policy easing from Chinese authorities amid concerns over the outlook for the economic powerhouse as it grapples with issues like its worst Covid outbreak since the initial height of the pandemic in early 2020. On Monday, the biggest city, Shanghai, started a two-stage lockdown.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 is slipping 0.73% to close at 27,943.89 while the Topix index ticked 0.41% lower to 1,973.37. South Korea’s Kospi was changed on the day to 2,729.56.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed higher at 7,412.40. Singapore’s Straits Times index increased 0.29% as of 4:13 p.m. local time.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a bit changed.

Oil prices declined in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures decreasing 3.32% to $116.65 per barrel. U.S. crude futures slipped 3.71% to $109.68 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar index, tracking the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.296, following a latest climb from below 98.7.