JD.com Inc (NASDAQ:JD), Baidu.com (NASDAQ:BIDU) and Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) rose on Friday after China announced new stimulus measures to support the economy suffering from a housing slump and weak demand.
On Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, JD.com shares jumped 7% while Alibaba was up 3.7% and Baidu gained 4.1%. The Hang Seng rose 2.4%.
Ahead of the US market open, JD.com's Nasdaq-listed shares were up 3.8% while Baidu gained 2.2%. On the NYSE, Alibaba was set to open 2.5% higher.
China’s Central Bank offered commercial lenders RMB 1.45 trillion ($204 billion) in funds via its medium-term lending facility (MLF). That helped to allay concerns over cash scarcity amid a surge in government debt issuance.
“MLF injection is much larger than expected, so it suggests continued easy monetary policy,” Standard Chartered’s head of China macro strategy Becky Liu told India’s Business Standard newspaper.
This means China won’t cut the reserve-requirement ratio for banks anytime soon, she added.
China’s recovery from the restrictive policies it implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic has been slower than expected.
While it reported the fastest monthly expansion of industrial output in almost two years of 6.6% in November, retail sales fell short of expectations with growth of 10.1%.