China cools and HSI retreats as Ma intrigues

Stocks in the mainland rallied before cooling on the first trading day after the Lunar New Year holidays amid a rebound in consumption but Hong Kong's market saw a correction.

The local bourse's benchmark Hang Seng Index fell by over 600 points amid a turnover of more than HK$200 billion.

Tech shares retreated with Alibaba (9988) plunging 7 percent amid reports that Jack Ma Yun had met Thailand's richest man in Hong Kong.

Alibaba founder Ma reportedly celebrated Lunar New Year in Hong Kong and met Thai billionaire Chia Kok Min, chairman of the Charoen Pokphand Group.

It was the second meeting between Ma and Chia in less than a month after Ma last month visited Bangkok at the invitation of Chia, prompting speculation of an investment partnership between the two tycoons.

Chia Tai Enterprises International (3839), chaired by Chia Kok Min's eldest son, surged as much as 75 percent before closing 68 percent higher at HK$1.33, on a volume of 5.42 million shares and turnover of HK$6.96 million.

However, Sino Biopharm (1177), also chaired by Chia's family, slid 2.04 percent to HK$4.79.

Charoen Pokphand was the first foreign enterprise to enter the mainland market in 1979 after Beijing's reforms and opening-up was effected.

Currently, the group holds a 2.43 percent stake in Ping An Insurance (2318) and is the largest foreign shareholder of the biggest insurer in the Asia-Pacific region.

The group signed a tripartite agreement with Alibaba and Ant Group at the end of 2016, announcing cooperation in agriculture, e-commerce and financial products, including a partnership between Ant and the group's Ascend Money, to develop a Thai version of Alipay.

Meanwhile, China's benchmark equity gauge, the CSI 300 Index, jumped as much as 2.1 percent early Monday and taking its gains from an October low to over 20 percent before easing and closing just 20 points higher at 4,201 yesterday.

However, the HSI decreased by 2.73 percent to 22,069 points amid outflows of HK$6.9 billion through the Stock Connect.

Tech and sectors that fared well last week including retail and gaming retreated.

The Hang Seng Tech Index fell by 4.84 percent with Alibaba and Tencent (0700) both dropping by about 7 percent.

Macau's gaming stocks declined across the board despite surging visitor numbers, with Wynn Macau (1128) the worst performer, plunging by 7.76 percent.