U.S.-listed shares of Chinese e-commerce leaders Alibaba and JD.com reversed recent slide trends and surged Monday following moves from the government to bolster China's capital markets. Both BABA stock and JD stock climbed just under 3%.
China's Ministry of Finance on Sunday said it would halve a stamp duty collected on securities transactions, to .05%. BABA stock gained 2.7% to close at 92.24 and JD stock got a 2.6% boost to 33.81 on the stock market today.
Also, the country's securities regulator said it is planning to take steps to limit new listings, according to the Wall Street Journal, to help balance supply and demand.
Both BABA and JD posted second-quarter earnings earlier this month that topped analyst estimates for revenue. But shares have fallen overall for the month, amid concerns about the real estate market and consumer spending in China.
BABA stock was down 10% since the start of the month coming into U.S. trading Monday, while JD stock was down 18%.
BABA Stock: First Stamp Duty Tax Cut Since 2008
This is the latest in a series of smaller steps from the Chinese government to boost a sluggish economy. It is the first time the stamp duty has been cut by the Chinese government since 2008, according to a client note published Sunday by Evercore ISI.
"The cut from 0.2% to 0.1% in Sep 2008 triggered merely a weeklong rally of 21%," Evercore ISI analyst Neo Wang said in the note.
"The market didn't find its bottom until Beijing announced the famous stimulus package of 4 trillion yuan on Nov. 5, 2008, and doubled in the next nine months," Wang said.
Following the news from the government, the CSI 300 index of top stocks on the Shanghai and Shenzen exchanges rose 5.5% at the open Monday and then pared back to close up 1.2%.
Along with BABA stock, Monday trading saw a rise for U.S.-listed shares of Chinese search giant Baidu. BIDU stock closed at 137.28, up 2.6%.
Also, U.S-listed shares of Alibaba competitor PDD Group, which operates the Pinduoduo marketplace, closed at 80.76, up 1.1%.
