Chinese tech stocks were on the way toward ending the week on a down note as the likes of Alibaba ( NYSE: BABA ), Tencent Holdings ( OTCPK:TCEHY ) and Bilibili ( BILI ) all hit the skids early Friday with notable losses.
Alibaba ( BABA ) shares fell as much as 8% a day after the Wall Street Journal reported that Jack Ma--Alibaba's ( BABA ) founder and one of the most prominent Chinese tech sector leaders--will cede his control of financial services technology company, Ant Group , an Alibaba ( BABA ) affiliate. Ma is said to be making the move to appease Chinese business regulators who have been pressuring the nation's tech giants more than a year over matters such a their business practices and management of their customers' personal data.
Alibaba ( BABA ) is also slated to deliver its June quarter results prior to the start of trading on Aug. 4. Analysts estimate the company will say it earned $1.56 a share on $30.2B for the quarter.
Along with Alibaba ( BABA ) other losses came from Tencent ( OTCPK:TCEHY ), down by more than 5%; Bilibili ( BILI ) and Baidu, ( BIDU ), both of which fell more than 4%; NetEase ( NTES ), down by more than 2%; PinDuoDuo ( PDD ), which also slipped by 2%, and Weibo ( WB ), down by 4% as trading progressed.
On top of the report that Ma will give up his stake in Ant Group, Alibaba ( BABA ) also got some attention earlier this week as it said it would apply for a primary stock listing in Hong Kong .
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Alibaba slumps 8% as Chinese techs beat a path into the red