China IP vow ups markets; eyes on Alibaba listing

Trade of the day: Stocks rise; safe havens US Treasuries and the Japanese yen weaken; oil is higher.

Quote of the day: “The outcome of elections will be a key driver of market fortunes over the next year or so, but when it comes to the real economy politicians overstate their ability to transform the growth outlook,” said Neil Shearing of Capital Economics referring to the US and UK elections in 2020.

Stock of the day:  Artgo Holdings which was the focus of a short-seller attack saw its shares rebound 117% after the company said 535 million shares were force-sold by the banks.

Number of the day:. $2.5 billion: Orders received by TMB Bank for its inaugural Additional Tier 1 bonds allowing the bank to lower the coupon it would pay on the bonds.

Tip of the day:  Share price target of Meituan Dianping, a Chinese e-commerce platform, raised to HK$130 from HK$121 by Jefferies analysts. This gives a 32% upside from Monday’s close. “Meituan is demonstrating solid execution with ‘food plus platform’ strategy targeting a mass audience with high frequency services.”

Financial markets received a boost from a report that China will police intellectual property theft more closely and Hong Kong got an additional leg-up from release of funds locked up in the subscription to Alibaba’s shares, due to start trading on Tuesday Hong Kong time.

Intellectual property violation is one of the main contentions in the US-China trade war that has raged for over two years, with Washington claiming Beijing is not doing enough to stop this practice.

Beijing issued guidelines on penalties against intellectual property right violations, lowering the thresholds for meting out punishments and making it easier for victims to receive compensation.

The Hong Kong index rose 1.5% with basic materials, real estate and industrials leading the charge. MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index rose by 0.8% while Japan’s Nikkei index climbed 0.74%. The technology sector stayed positive ahead of Tuesday’s listing of China e-commerce giant Alibaba. The company last week sold 500 million shares, pricing them at HK$176 per share. The share offering received a solid response from investors and the oversubscription money is flowing back to the market, giving stocks an extra boost.

This is a holiday-shortened weekend on Wall Street, with the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Before that a batch of the US data will influence markets. US consumer spending data are due Wednesday, along with GDP, jobless claims and durable goods.