Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumps more than 1%; Alibaba shares in Hong Kong plunge nearly 5%

Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose Friday morning, following an overnight bounce for stocks stateside. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.43% in morning trade — partially recovering from the more than 2% plunge seen on Thursday. The Topix index gained 1.24%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.78%.

Mainland Chinese stocks were higher in early trade, with the Shanghai composite rising 0.3% and Shenzhen component edging 0.355% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.64%. Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba plunged nearly 5% after the firm posted its first operating loss as a public company in its fiscal fourth quarter.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.74%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.74% higher. Investors will also continue to monitor the coronavirus situation in India, with more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths reported for the second straight day on Thursday. Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 433.79 points to close at 34,021.45 while the S&P 500 gained 1.22% to finish the trading day stateside at 4,112.50. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.72% to close at 13,124.99.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumps more than 1%; Alibaba shares in Hong Kong plunge nearly 5%, CNBC, May 14