Alibaba leads Asian stocks higher after earnings

Asian stocks are in line to notch a sixth straight weekly gain, the longest winning streak in almost a year

Chinese technology shares led gains in Asian stocks after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. reporting its fastest pace of revenue growth in more than a year boosted optimism toward the sector. The yen weakened past 150 per dollar.

Equities in Hong Kong and a gauge of Asian shares advanced after Alibaba surged as much as 11% on the back of its earnings. Japanese stocks were flat. Gold held near a record and Treasuries were little changed after US equities dropped from a record. Asian stocks are in line to notch a sixth straight weekly gain, the longest winning streak in almost a year.

While investors remain nervous about rising geopolitical tensions and a widening tariff war, Alibaba and other Chinese technology shares have surged in recent weeks on enthusiasm over DeepSeek’s artificial-intelligence model. Global funds piling into that surge have driven a $1.3 trillion rally in Chinese stocks.

“My conviction is until China makes major structural reforms, those growth spurts are gonna be short-lived,” said Ron Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard Asset Management. “You want to trade those rallies. It’s a ‘rent don’t own.’”

Alibaba Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu said the pursuit of artificial general intelligence is now the company’s “primary objective.”

“We aim to continue to develop models that extend the boundaries of intelligence,” he told investors on a call after earnings.

Alibaba’s strong earnings “more than justifies the recent migration of capital from a concentrated US tech position toward the China AI plays,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, the yen weakened back past 150 per dollar in Friday trading after strengthening past that key level Thursday on speculation the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates sooner rather than later. Traders are pricing in a roughly 84% chance of a 25 basis point hike at the July meeting, up from a 70% chance at the start of the month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

On Friday, data showed Japanese inflation accelerated more than expected. Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.2% from a year earlier in January, the biggest gain since June 2023. Japan’s 10-year government bond futures extend gains as BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda speaks in Parliament.

“The CPI prints, alongside the recent Q4 GDP and December wage data, justified the recent lift in BOJ rate-hike pricing,” said Carol Kong, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “USD/JPY can reach our end-March forecast of 149 sooner than expected.”

The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% Thursday as Walmart Inc. shares fell — the first big-box retailer to report results after the holiday season. That’s just days after retail sales signaled an abrupt pullback by consumers. A slide in banks also weighed on trading, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. each falling over 3.8%.

Elsewhere, Treasuries were little changed in Asia. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that any move to boost the share of longer-term Treasuries in government debt issuance is some ways off given current hurdles that include elevated inflation and the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening program.

In Australia, the central bank is closely monitoring the state of the labor market as persistent tightness may signal a stronger economy, Governor Michele Bullock said, adding that policymakers aren’t “pre-committed” to any path for interest rates.

In commodities, oil headed for its biggest weekly gain since early January on increasing supply uncertainty. Gold held near a record, and is on pace for an eighth straight weekly advance, on increasing haven demand fueled by geopolitical and trade tensions, as well as concerns about the economic outlook.