The Alibaba share was one of the strongest risers on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday. China last weekend imposed a record fine of 18.2 billion yuan on the web-store group of tech billionaire Jack Ma for monopoly practices.
Investors, however, were already aware that Alibaba would be fined and responded with relief that the matter is now finally over. Asian equity markets showed losses predominantly in anticipation of the start of the quarterly earnings season.
In the meantime, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong recorded 1 percent in the min. Alibaba gained almost 8 percent. In addition to the multi-billion dollar fine, the group must also take several measures to ensure fair competition, respect consumer rights and protect companies that use Alibaba’s platforms. The company said it would accept the fine.
Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said the measures are not expected to have a significant impact on the company. The Chinese government has been trying to take stricter action against large corporations that hold a lot of power for some time.
The main index in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225, ended 0.8 percent lower at 29,538.73 points. Robot maker Yaskawa Electric fell almost 7 percent after disappointing quarterly figures. The company’s earnings outlook also fell short of investor expectations. Supermarket group Aeon was lowered 4 percent after disappointing results. Toshiba climbed 6.5 percent. According to business newspaper Nikkei, Japan Investment Corp and Development Bank of Japan have joined the $ 20 billion takeover bid from investor CVC for Toshiba.
The Kospi in Seoul fell slightly. LG Chem and SK Innovation were up 0.5 and 12 percent. The two South Korean manufacturers of electric car batteries have settled a long-standing dispute with 1.5 billion euros. LG Chem accused SK Innovation of theft of trade secrets.
The US government has already urged the two companies to settle their arguments because the ambitions for the electrification of the US vehicle fleet were being jeopardized. Ford and Volkswagen also indicated that electric cars’ production would be delayed without batteries from SK Innovation.