China's property stocks may have led the way Monday after a flurry of good news for the sector, but there were also sizable gains for the country's biggest internet companies.
E-commerce giants Alibaba (ticker: BABA) and JD.com $(JD)$ have become sensitive to macroeconomic developments in recent weeks, given their reliance on the health of the consumer. Alibaba jumped 3.3% in Hong Kong trading Monday, JD.com climbed 5%, and Baidu $(BIDU)$ rose 3.4%.
With the U.S. market closed Monday for Labor Day, the companies' American depositary receipts (ADRs) may well catch up with gains of their own in Tuesday's trading.
The factors driving the Chinese stock rally Monday were almost exclusively linked to the country's struggling property sector. Beijing and Shanghai relaxed mortgage rules in a bid to boost housing demand, following Guangzhou and Shenzhen in easing their policies. Country Garden, one of China's biggest developers, also struck a deal with creditors for an extension to onshore bond payments, Reuters reported.
But those measures led to a broad-based rally in Chinese stocks, including its tech giants. It also added to the feeling that Beijing may keep the stimulus measures coming. Goldman Sachs $(GS)$ analyst Hui Shan said she expects measures to continue "until policymakers are satisfied with the result."
That's good news for Alibaba, JD.com, and other technology giants exposed to the Chinese consumer. More gloomy economic data are still a risk in the near term but there have been some positive signs on that front.
China's manufacturing sector contracted for a fifth consecutive month in August, according to official purchasing managers index $(PMI.UK)$ data. But, perhaps significantly, the reading of 49.7 -- just below the 50 mark that separates contraction from expansion -- beat expectations.
Data from independent research firm China Beige Book's surveys of 1,300 companies conducted last month also showed areas of improvement.