Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s shares suffered their steepest decline in two months as investors fretted over Chinese authorities' push to tighten product-quality standards and strengthen consumer protection. The Chinese e-commerce giant's shares fell as much as 6% on Thursday, the most since Aug. 24.
The stock was the biggest contributor to the Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index's decline of as much as 2.8%. The Hang Seng Tech Index slumped as much as 4.5%, reflecting broader pressure on the technology sector.
Representatives from Alibaba and other major platforms, including JD.com Inc., PDD Holdings Inc., Xiaohongshu Technology Co., Kuaishou Technology, ByteDance Co. and Vipshop Holdings, attended the meeting, according to a statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation. The regulator's message focused on product quality and consumer rights across online platforms.
Steven Leung, executive director at UOB Kay Hian, said such reminders are not new to the sector but feel like they never end. "The impact on earnings has been diminishing, but more on the sentiment level," he said.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing