TikTok IPO Rumors Swirl

Key News

Asian markets were a sea of red except for China’s small gains, while Hong Kong and the Philippines were spared the carnage due to market holidays. Chinese equity markets posted slight gains in renminbi though CNY was off -0.83% versus the US $ closing at 6.72 as the US dollar surges. It was a quiet weekend and Monday except for Premier Li’s speech emphasizing employment against the backdrop of China’s first covid zero policy. It wasn’t exactly a Vince Lombardi halftime motivational speech though he noted, “Promote the healthy development of the platform economy and drive more employment.” Weekend trade data shows the economic consequence of the policy as imports were off. Mainland volumes were very light, highlighting investor sentiment as several widely held stocks by both domestic and foreign investors were off.

Mainland media source Yicai Global reported that Tiktok’s parent ByteDance might list the Chinese version of TikTok in Hong Kong, rebranding itself Douyin. Splitting the company into two entities would be an intelligent way to navigate the US-China political relationship. The PCAOB denied the Reuters article on a China visit which is disappointing. A Mainland media source noted the clinical trial of Sinopharma’s inactivated vaccine in Hunan province. Hopefully, the trial goes well!

Shanghai, Shenzhen, and STAR Board managed small gains of +0.09%, +0.35%, and +0.48% on volume -11.59% from Friday, 62% of the 1-year average. There were 3,356 advancing stocks and 1,009 declining stocks. Value and dividend factors performed well today while larger companies underperformed. In US $, communication was the only positive sector +0.08% while discretionary -2.52%, energy -1.72%, staples -1.72% and financials -1.14%. Rare earth companies had a strong day while several widely owned names were off, such as CATL -1.99%, Kweichow Moutai -2.29%, China Merchants Bank -3.8%, and BYD -3.86%. Northbound Stock Connect was closed. Bonds rallied, CNY sold off versus the US $, and copper was off.

Last Night’s Exchange Rates, Prices, & Yields

• CNY/USD 6.72 versus 6.67 overnight
• CNY/EUR 7.09 versus 7.04 overnight
• Yield on 10-Year Government Bond 2.82% versus 2.83% overnight
• Yield on 10-Year China Development Bank Bond 3.02% versus 3.06% overnight
• Copper Price -0.68% overnight