Asian stock markets rise on Alibaba news

Asia-Pacific markets rose on Wednesday, with shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba trading in Hong Kong rising at the open after the company announced it would split into six business groups. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2.54 percent, led by a 14 percent rise in shares of e-commerce firm Alibaba, while the Hang Seng Tech Index added 3.54 percent. Mainland Chinese markets also rose, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling marginally and the Shenzhen Component Index gaining 0.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.11 percent as February inflation came in lower than expected at 6.8 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.44 percent and Topix rose 0.55 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was flat, while the Kosdaq index rose 0.58 percent. Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite losing 0.45 percent, the S&P 500 losing 0.16 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.12 percent. Bond yields rose, with the 2-year U.S. Treasury yield rising above 4 percent again. Rising rates make future profits, such as those promised by growth companies, less attractive.