Alibaba shares rise after Ant Group receives approval for capital plan
Shares of Alibaba listed in Hong Kong rose 7.11% in Wednesday’s morning trade – after China’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission approved a plan for Ant Group’s capital expansion plan for its consumer financial unit based in Chongqing.
According to a notice posted last week, Chinese regulators gave the greenlight to billionaire Jack Ma’s financial technology firm to raise 10.5 billion yuan ($1.5 billion).
Ant Group is an affiliate of Alibaba in which the e-commerce giant owns 33%. Ant Group runs the Alipay mobile payments wallet in China. Alibaba’s shares rose 2.78% on Tuesday, the first trading session after the notice was posted.
Other companies named in the notice included Hangzhou Jintou Digital Technology Group, Nanyang Commercial Bank, Zhejiang Sunny Optical and China Huarong Asset management.
The approval marks progress in the state-led regulatory overhaul of the fintech giant.
– Jihye Lee, Evelyn Cheng
CNBC Pro: Analysts see these 10 global renewable energy stocks rising despite higher rates with one offering 50% upside
Skyrocketing energy costs have spurred investment in renewable energy across the world.
Swiss investment bank UBS named 10 prominent renewable energy players capitalizing on the trend and are set to outperform over the next year.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
Japan’s manufacturing activity marks weakest in more than two years
The au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing manager’s index for December posted a reading of 48.9, marking a second consecutive month in contraction territory.
The reading inched down from November’s 49.0, and marked the weakest figure since October 2020’s figure of 48.70.
The sustained contractions in production was attributed to “weak global economic trends,” the report stated.
—Lee Ying Shan
Tesla’s Asia suppliers fall after deliveries report
Tesla’s suppliers in Asia fell after it reported its fourth-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers for 2022 that fell short of expectations.
The deliveries report showed 405,278 total deliveries for the quarter and 1.31 million total deliveries for the year, lower than expectations to see around 427,000 deliveries for the final quarter of the year.
Japan’s Panasonic lost 1.82% in early Asia trade – South Korea’s LG Chem fell 0.17% in earlier hours and Samsung SDI shed about 2%.
Shenzhen-listed shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology, or also known as CATL, fell 1.7%. Shares of Tesla closed down 12% on Tuesday on Wall Street.
– Ashley Capoot, Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: Wall Street is bullish on this chip giant, with Morgan Stanley giving it 55% upside
The once-hot chip sector suffered in 2022, but Wall Street looks to be turning more optimistic on semiconductor stocks for the year ahead.
Recently, several pros have urged investors to take a longer-term view on the sector, given the importance of chips in several key secular trends.
Analysts named one…
Read More: Asia-Pacific markets, Fed, Wall Street, Apple, Tesla, Japan PMI