Chinese tech stocks: Li Keqiang vowed not to pursue currency devaluation

China’s
Premier Li Keqiang gestures during a joint press conference as
part of a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the
chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, June 1,
2017.
AP Photo/Michael
Sohn

• Chinese tech stocks jumped Wednesday after Chinese
  Premier Li Keqiang vowed not to pursue a policy of
  currency devaluation.
• Li said the recent weakening of the Chinese yuan
  was due to market forces.
• Li’s comment will reassure investor confidence in
  China, Lukman Otunuga, a research analyst at FXTM,
  said.
• Watch Alibaba, iQiyi, JD.com, Baidu.com, Pinduoduo, 
  Nio
   trade
  in real time here.

Chinese tech stocks
 jumped Wednesday
after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed not to pursue a policy of
currency devaluation to counteract the tariffs imposed
by the Trump administration.

“Persistent depreciation of the RMB will only do more harm
than good to our economy,” Li
said Wednesday at a World Economic Forum event in
Tianjin, China. 
He added that the recent
weakening of Chinese currency was due to market forces
and the government would not allow a continued
devaluation.

In the wake of Li’s comments
, Chinese tech
stocks are higher across the board. Here’s the
scoreboard:

Li’s comment will go a long way towards reassuring investor
confidence, according to Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at
FXTM.

“Not only will it help stabilize the Yuan, but it can also
play a factor in helping currencies across the region, when
factoring in how important China has become to the global
economy,” Otunuga said in a note sent out to clients
Wednesday.

Li’s comments may have been in response to a recent attack
from Trump, who just last month repeated his belief that China
has been artificially weakening its currency.

The yuan has fallen 9% against the dollar this year, partly
offsetting the price impact of the the previously announced 25%
tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods.

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