A-share Market Dynamics:
- Today, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets opened with different trends. The Shanghai Composite Index opened up by 0.09%, at 2773.29 points; the Shenzhen Component Index opened slightly down by 0.01%, at 8239.5 points; the ChiNext Index opened down by 0.19%, at 1595.96 points.
- More than 4,300 A-share stocks rose, with significant performance differences across sectors. Real estate, tourism, companies with “Zhong” in their names, and gaming sectors led the gains.
Global Stock Markets:
- U.S. stocks had a positive start to February, with tech giants performing well, driving the Dow to a new historical high, while the S&P and Nasdaq rose by more than 1%.
- Meta (formerly Facebook) announced a $50 billion stock buyback and its first ever dividend issuance, outperforming expectations with strong results.
Financial Industry:
- Regional bank stocks showed weakness, with some experiencing significant declines, such as bank NYCB closing down 11%.
- Zoom announced the layoff of approximately 150 employees, specifying that this reduction was not company-wide and emphasized their plan to continue hiring in specific areas throughout 2024.
Financial Markets:
- Construction projects related to the airport's third runway are underway. The Airport Authority plans to issue HK$5 billion in retail bonds, open to public subscription.
- To date, more than a hundred tech companies in the U.S. have laid off about 30,000 employees, with January layoffs reaching the highest level since March of last year.
Updates from the People's Bank of China:
- The People's Bank of China announced that in January, the Net New Pledged Supplementary Loans (PSL) of the China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, and the Agricultural Development Bank of China amounted to 150 billion yuan.
