Alibaba’s plan fails

Alibaba shares slumped 9 percent to their lowest since June on Monday, as the firm’s upsized US$10 billion buyback programme failed to ease concerns about a regulatory crackdown on co-founder Jack Ma’s e-commerce and financial empire.

A sharp sell-off over two sessions has knocked almost US$116 billion off the tech giant’s Hong Kong-listed shares. The downward spiral intensified when Chinese regulators announced last Thursday the launch of an antitrust investigation into Alibaba and said they would summon its Ant Group affiliate to meet. Alibaba’s US shares sank more than 15 percent during the day.

“The antitrust investigation into Alibaba has yet to specify the penalties, which is worrying investors a lot,” said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer of Beijing Yunyi Asset, adding a probe outcome could “greatly change” the company valuations.

Putting investors more on edge was news over the weekend that China’s central bank had asked Ant to shake up its lending and other consumer finance operations. – Reuters.