- Meituan’s US$533 million fine is seen as a relief by market participants against expectations for a billion-dollar penalty
- Hang Seng Index is trading near the highest level since September 14, recouping some of the US$1 trillion sell-off since the end of May
Zhang Shidong in Shanghai
Published: 10:43am, 11 Oct, 2021
Hong Kong stocks rallied, lifting the benchmark index to near a four-week high, as investors bet the worst is over on tech sector regulatory crackdown following the end of investigation into Meituan.
The Hang Seng Index jumped 1.9 per cent to 25,316.66 on early Monday trading, taking the gauge to the highest since September 14. The Hang Seng Tech Index surged 2.6 per cent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 per cent.
Meituan, the nation’s biggest on-demand delivery service firm, jumped 7.7 per cent to HK$275.40, on track for its highest close since July. The state antitrust regulator on late Friday fined the company 3.44 billion yuan (US$533 million) for monopolistic market practices.
The penalty ended a probe from late April, with some analysts calling it milder than the US$1 billion fine expected by the market. Alibaba, the owner of this newspaper which was fined a record US$2.8 billion in May, gained 6.6 per cent to HK$165.70.
Other Chinese tech juggernauts also climbed, as traders continued to add to their holdings after a wipe-off of about US$1 trillion in market values from Chinese offshore stocks since May. Tencent Holdings added 2.6 per cent to HK$494.
Other major markets in Asia were mixed, with Japan’s stock gauges climbing more than 1 per cent while equities in Australia heading south. A government report on Friday showed US job growth last month significantly trailed estimates, but also showed a jump in wages.