Alibaba, Nio, Most Peers Buck Weaker Hang Seng Open After Wall Street Slide As Focus Turns To Jackson Hole Summit

Hong Kong's benchmark stock index opened lower on Tuesday morning, tracking a weak finish overnight on Wall Street on the back of rate-hike fears, as investors looked toward U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Summit later this week.

The Hang Seng Index was down 0.5% at the open, as traders digested a weak Australian Purchasing Managers’ Index and eyed a central bank rate decision in Indonesia as well as core inflation data from Singapore. 

Macro News: The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) said late Monday that financial institutions, especially major state-owned banks, should boost loan issuance to the real economy, Bloomberg reported. The lenders should also improve credit support for small- and micro-enterprises, green development, scientific and technological innovation and other fields, it said.

The PBoC cut its benchmark loan and mortgage reference rates on Monday. One-year loan prime rate (LPR) was reduced from 3.7% to 3.65%, while the five-year LPR, the reference for mortgages, was slashed from 4.45% to 4.3%.

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Key Levels: Nio shares were up 1.3% in Hong Kong after falling over 4% in the previous session. Their next key support level lies in the HKD148-146.3 range.

Shares of Alibaba fell over 1% on Monday in Hong Kong trading. The next key support for the stock lies in the HKD87.5-86.80 range.

Company News: Li Auto's augmented reality glasses in partnership with AR firm Leiniao will be available on the former’s online store starting Thursday, reported CnEVPost.

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has received a patent for a blockchain-based missing person’s poster, reported CoinTelegraph, citing local media.

Global News: U.S. futures were in the green in Tuesday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were up 0.06%, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.15%. The S&P 500 futures were up 0.07%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s ASX 200 lost 0.49%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.14%, while China’s Shanghai Composite index shed 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.39%.