Hang Seng Index, ASX200, Nikkei 225: Hang Seng Leads on Alibaba News

• It was a bullish Wednesday morning for the Asian markets, with the Hang Seng Index leading the way.
• Alibaba Group Holding plans for an overhaul, and Jack Ma’s return to China supported tech stocks and the broader Asian markets.
• Economic indicators from Australia fueled bets of an RBA rate pause in April, while BoJ Deputy Governor Uchida also grabbed the headlines.

Market Overview

It was a bullish morning for the Asian markets. The Hang Seng Index was in breakout mode, with the ASX 200 and Nikkei 225 finding support.

News of Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd planning to split into six entities drove demand for tech stocks. Market bets on easing market restrictions in China supported the bullish morning session.

Jack Ma’s return to China further evidenced Chinese regulators planning to ease restrictions.

US economic indicators from Tuesday were also market-friendly, with consumer confidence unexpectedly improving in March. The CB Consumer Confidence increased from 103.4 to 104.2, the upswing coming despite the Fed’s push to bring inflation under control.

This morning, the NASDAQ mini was up 41.75 points, with the Dow up by 113.

ASX 200

The ASX 200 was up 0.13%, with commodity stocks delivering support. Inflation figures from Australia raised the expectation of an RBA rate pause in April, supporting the broader market. However, bank stocks limited the upside despite easing banking sector jitters.

National Australia Bank (NAB) slid by 2.01% this morning, with Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) down 0.93%. ANZ Group (ANZ) and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) saw relatively modest losses of 0.07% and 0.26%,

Mining stocks were on the move. Rio Tinto (RIO) and BHP Group Ltd (BHP) rose by 0.58% and 1.27%, respectively, with Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) gaining 2.43%. Newcrest Mining (NCM) was up 1.16%.

It was also a bullish session for oil stocks. Woodside Energy Group (WDS) and Santos Ltd (STO) made gains of 1.88% and 0.22%, respectively.

Hang Seng Index

The Hang Seng was up 1.91% this morning. News of Alibaba planning for an overhaul supported a bullish morning session.

Considering the main components, Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700) rose by 2.27%, with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HK:9988) surging by 13.29%.

However, it was a mixed morning for banking stocks. HSBC Holdings PLC fell by 0.57%, while China Construction Bank (HK: 0939) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (HK:1398) rose by 0.59% and 1.18%, respectively.

CNOOC (HK: 0883) was up 2.44% in response to the rise in crude oil prices.

Nikkei 225

The Nikkei 225 was up 0.60% this morning, with a stronger USD/JPY providing support following comments from Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Uchida.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell by 0.09% and 0.11%, respectively.

Looking at the main components, SoftBank Group Corp. (9984) rallied by 5.52% in response to the Alibaba news, with Fast Retailing Co (9983) gaining 1.27%. KDDI Corp (9433) and Sony Corp (6758) also found support, rising by 0.51% and 0.44%, respectively, while Tokyo Electron (8035) declined by 1.38%.

Check out our economic calendar for today’s economic events.