U.S.-listed shares of Chinese internet companies including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Nio Inc. were rallying sharply in premarket trading Friday as hopeful sentiment continued to build over the possibility that the country was planning to relax its strict COVID-19 policies.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Zeng Guang, who was formerly the chief scientist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a conference that there were expected to be “significant” changes to the company’s zero-COVID approach, according to multiple unnamed sources.
Additionally, The Wall Street Journal noted that U.S. inspectors from the Public Accounting Oversight Board were set to complete their on-site review of Chinese companies’ audit records in Hong Kong. That development could ease fears about the prospect of delisting for Chinese companies whose shares trade on U.S. exchanges.
The performance tracks a rally in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng
HSI,
jumped 5%.
See also: Chinese tech sector leads Hong Kong market rebound
Among Friday’s premarket gainers were U.S.-listed shares of Bilibili Inc.
BILI,
up almost 14%, Nio
NIO,
up nearly 11%, as well as iQiyi Inc.
IQ,
and Alibaba
BABA,
each up nearly 10%.
U.S.-listed shares of JD.com Inc.
JD,
were up about 9% while shares of Tencent Music Entertainment Group
TME,
were up about 7% and shares of Huya Inc.
HUYA,
were ahead about 6%.
The KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF
KWEB,
was advancing nearly 8% in Friday’s premarket action. It’s gained in each of the four prior trading sessions this week, though it’s still off 20% over the past month and 42% so far this year.
