Nio, XPeng Fall Over 2% in HK: Why Investors Are Focused On Fed's Beige Book, ECB Move

ZINGER KEY POINTS

• U.S. Fed's Beige Book is a summary of current economic conditions
• China is set to release its August trade data
• U.S. SEC on Tuesday issued a warning to Chinese firms asking them not to violate legal and audit requirements

Hong Kong stocks opened lower on Wednesday, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 1.60%, as investors braced for the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Beige Book (a commentary on economic conditions) due later today and the European Central Bank's policy decision on Thursday.

Shares of Alibaba, Tencent lost near 2% at the time of writing, Nio and XPeng lost over 2%.

China is set to release its August trade data while investors will be watching out for Australian GDP numbers after the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its policy rate by 50 bps yesterday.

Macro News: The Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) on Tuesday issued a warning to Chinese companies asking them not to violate legal and audit requirements as they switch to auditors based in the U.S. to abide by a law that threatens to delist the businesses from American stock exchanges, reported theWall Street Journal.

China’s gross domestic product will expand an average of 4.5% over this decade, according to a new forecast byOxford Economics, Bloomberg reported.

Company News: Chinese tech giant Tencent is hiking its minority stake in Ubisoft Entertainment SA UBSFY in a deal that values the video game maker at more than 10 billion euros, Reuters reported.

Thailand’s WHA Group and Warren Buffett-backed BYD BYDDFare set to announce plans for an electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Thailand, according toReuters.

Top Movers and Losers: ENN Energy Holdings Limited and Alibaba Health Information Technology Limited were the top losers on Hang Seng, having shed more than 2%, while Hengan International Group Company Limited and CLP Holdings Limited were the only gainers.

Global News: U.S. futures traded in the red on Wednesday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were down 0.51%, while the Nasdaq futures shed 0.58%. The S&P 500 futures fell 0.56%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s ASX 200 lost 1.54%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.12% while China’s Shanghai Composite index shed 0.32%. South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.52%.