Alibaba,
JD.com
and other U.S.-listed Chinese launched a comeback early Thursday after Beijing attempted to alleviate fears of an economic slump.
China has a gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of 5% for 2023, but economists are becoming increasingly skeptical about whether it can hit that goal.
Morgan Stanley
cut its Chinese GDP forecast to 4.7%, from 5% Thursday, after
J.P. Morgan
lowered its forecast to 4.8% from 5% earlier in the week.
Barclays
also cut its forecast to 4.5% from 4.8%.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said, in a speech Wednesday, that the country will work towards meeting its annual goals, setting out measures to achieve its targets.
He said the government will focus on “expanding domestic demand” by tapping into consumption and pro-investment policies, and promoting the consumption of big ticket items, according to state-media Xinhua News Agency.
Li also spoke of building a modern industrial system and efforts to “accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries with new technologies and business models.”
“The premier noted the challenges facing the economy and stressed that the government will remain resolute and confident,” the Xinhua report added in an English translation of the readout.
After falling 2.7% Wednesday,
Alibaba’s
(ticker: BABA) American depositary receipts (ADRs) pointed 2.8% higher early Thursday.
JD.com’s
(JD) ADRs, which fell 3% yesterday, were 1.6% up, while
Baidu
(BIDU) rose 1.3% after a 3.5% drop in the previous session.
Some of that could be a partial recovery in response to Thursday’s selloff rather than genuine belief that China can get its economic recovery back on track.
Li’s speech failed to significantly boost Hong Kong stocks as the
Hang Seng Index
closed flat Thursday but the
Hang Seng Tech index
closed 0.8% higher.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@barrons.com
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