Shares of major U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded higher in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning as investors cheered better-than-expected economic data from the Asian nation.
Chinese tech giants like Alibaba Group Holdings, Baidu Inc, and JD.com gained as much as 5%, whereas Tencent Holdings TCEHY edged higher.
In the electric vehicle segment, Nio Inc led the rally with 13% gains, whereas Xpeng Inc and Li Auto Inc gained as much as 6%.
Global Markets Recap: At press time, the benchmark Hang Seng Index was 1.19% higher on mostly positive cues from global peers.
Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.73%, while Shanghai's SSE Composite Index gained 0.95% and Singapore's SGX Nifty was up 1.04%.
Macro Factors: The investor optimism came amid better-than-expected economic numbers from China. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, industrial production rose 0.7% in May from a year ago, versus an expected 0.7% drop, according to a Reuters analysts poll.
The country's retail sales fell less than expected.
The bureau, however, added that "we must be aware that the international environment is to be even more complicated and grim, and the domestic economy is still facing difficulties and challenges for recovery."
U.S. Congress also pushed a ruling proposing screening investments in rival countries like China to protect U.S. technologies and rebuild critical supply chains.
Company In News: Several Chinese firms such as Alibaba Group and JD.com traded higher ahead of the country's "618" holiday shopping event, which kicks off this weekend.
NIO will hold a product launch event on Wednesday. The company is expected to launch the ES7 – the first NIO SUV built on the NT 2.0 platform.
Xpeng Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng in a Weibo post on Tuesday said charging efficiency for EVs would improve thanks to super-fast technology achieving scale in the near future.