China's central bank today cut its benchmark LPR rate for 5-year and above by 15 basis points to 4.45 percent.
Electric vehicle (EV) stocks trading in Hong Kong rose in early trading as China cut a key interest rate to boost an economy under pressure.
At press time, NIO (NYSE: NIO, HKG: 9866) was up 8.58 percent in Hong Kong, XPeng Motors (NYSE: XPEV, HKG: 9868) was up 6.77 percent, Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI, HKG: 2015) was up 4.93 percent and BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY, HKG: 1211) rose 3.31 percent.
Hong Kong markets rose overall, with the Hang Seng Index up 2.33 percent and the Hang Seng Tech Index up 3.84 percent. Alibaba rose 4.68 percent and Meituan gained 4.05 percent.
China's central bank - People's Bank of China today announced information on this month's benchmark interest rate, with the 1-year LPR (loan prime rate) at 3.7 percent and the 5-year and above LPR at 4.45 percent.
This means that China's short-term rate is unchanged, but the long-term rate - the 5-year and above LPR - has been cut by 15 basis points.
China's A-share market was also generally higher in early trading, with ChiNext Index up nearly 2 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index up more than 1 percent.
In specific company news, NIO successfully listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited today, becoming the first car company to list in three locations.
The company already had a secondary listing in Hong Kong by way of introduction on March 10, and the listing in Singapore is its second secondary listing so far this year.
As in Hong Kong, NIO's move did not involve a new share issue and therefore did not result in new financing or equity dilution for investors.
XPeng will hold an event later today to offer two new color options for the G3i, as well as a customization option package, according to information previously shared by the company.
XPeng unveiled the G3i, a facelift of the XPeng G3, in July last year in an attempt to appeal to young people with a more youthful design language.
XPeng G3i deliveries began in September last year, and since then the company has categorized both the G3 and G3i as part of the G3 series when it releases delivery figures, with cumulative deliveries of 20,092 units as of the end of April.
