By 
The U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. ended a historically strong month on a high note Wednesday, as the China-based e-commerce giant was swept up in the hope that the country will loosen its strict zero-COVID policy.
The stock
BABA,
+9.64%
climbed 9.6% in afternoon trading to a 10-week closing high of $87.56. The stock ran up 37.7% in November, the second-best monthly performance since it went public in September 2019 and the best since the record monthly rally of 42.2% in October 2015.
Investors don’t seem to be focusing on the reports of protests in China over lockdowns resulting from the government’s zero-COVID policy or on data showing that manufacturing activity in the country contracted further in November.
Instead, they appear to be focusing on recent moves China has made regarding its COVID policy, including renewing a push to vaccinate the elderly and reports that lockdown measures in the city of Zhengzhou have been lifted.
Also read: Alibaba stock pops earnings as cost cuts pay off
Alibaba’s stock was not the only one swept up in the COVID-relief rally. The Invesco Golden Dragon China exchange-traded fund
PGJ,
+9.59%,
which tracks the American depositary shares (ADS) of China-based companies that only list in the U.S., rocketed 41.8% in November, which was more than double the previous monthly record rise of 20.0% in September 2007.
In comparison, the S&P 500
SPX,
+3.09%
tacked on 5.4% in November.
The Golden Dragon ETF’s November gainers were led by the 132% surge in the ADS of toy seller Miniso Group Holding Ltd.
MNSO,
+12.26%
and the 102% runup in the ADS of on-demand retail and delivery company Dada Nexus Ltd.
DADA,
+10.27%.
Among other more active Golden Dragon components, the ADS of electric-vehicle maker Nio Inc.
NIO,
+21.71%
rose 32.2% in November, while those of Bilibili Inc.
BILI,
+12.73%
shot up 94.6%, Tencent Music Entertainment Group
TME,
+6.21%
rose 94.2% and Pinduoduo Inc.
PDD,
+4.60%
went up 49.6%.
Among other EV makers, shares of XPeng Inc.
XPEV,
+47.28%
rallied 63.3% and shares of Li Auto Inc.
LI,
+18.73%
advanced 61.5% on the month.
Also read: XPeng stock rockets toward record rally as bulls brush off bad results, outlook.
Elsewhere, the ADS of JD.com Inc.
JD,
+7.38%
jumped 53.3% in November and those of iQIYI Inc.
IQ,
+10.00%
went up 47.0%.
Meanwhile, the biggest month-to-date decliner was stainless-steel pipe and tube maker Huadi International Group Co.
HUDI,
-8.05%,
whose shares fell 63.6%.
Comments