Chinese Stock Markets Volatile, Unitree Sheds Some Debut Luster

The debut of Unitree Robotics on Wednesday headlined Chinese stock-market trading this week, though its stellar debut price faltered the following two days. Investors were also closely watching a raft of corporate earnings, many missing forecasts.

Unitree shares closed at 672 yuan (US$100) a share in Shanghai on Friday, down from its first-day close of 845 yuan but still higher than the IPO offer price of 150.80 yuan. The leading global maker of humanoid robots was the first company in the industry to list on a Chinese mainland stock exchange in what was a heavily oversubscribed offer.

Other technology companies that recently listed on the STAR Market fared better on Friday. Chipmaker Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) increased 0.75 percent, and Zhongji Innolight, the world's largest producer of optical transceivers used in AI data centers, climbed 4.3 percent.

Shanghai's tech-focused STAR Market 50 index edged up 0.04 percent on Friday but lost 3.7 percent for the week.

"Unitree created many records, including record first-day profits for investors," said Jiang Yifan, an analyst with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities. "But it also absorbed huge amounts of capital in the market, leading to sharp movements this week."

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended flat on Friday, chalking up a 0.56 percent decline for the week. The Shenzhen Component Index dropped 1.8 percent in the past five trading days, while the tech-intensive ChiNext tumbled 5 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 3.6 percent this week following a jump of 1.2 percent on Friday.

"This week's performance shows how high-tech shares can affect the market and guide expectations for the future," Jiang said.

Some of China's largest, most influential companies released earnings results this week.

Shares in Alibaba Group, the Chinese conglomerate spanning AI, cloud computing and e-commerce, fell 2.5 percent in Hong Kong on Friday after a day earlier reporting a quarterly 75-percent year-on-year decline in net profit to 10.4 billion yuan, weighed down by heavier spending on AI technology and lackluster performance in its e-commerce segment.

Shares in Chinese Internet and gaming company NetEase rose 4.5 percent on Friday after the company earlier reported a 7 percent increase in first-half revenue, though profit fell 6.3 percent amid competition in the games sector.

Baidu, China's largest search engine and a heavyweight in AI development, rose 1 percent on Friday despite a worse-than-forecast 4 percent drop in second-quarter revenue and a 68 percent plunge in profit to 2.3 billion yuan.

Chery, China's largest auto exporter, rose 5.6 percent on Friday. The company reported first-half net profit fell 12 percent to 8.6 billion yuan on higher research and development costs, but overseas revenue surged 51 percent to 99 billion yuan. Shares in electric vehicle and smartphone maker Xiaomi rose 4.5 percent despite the company announcing a second-quarter profit decline of 20.3 percent, largely driven by the smartphone segment.

Shares in Pop Mart, the Chinese creator of the Labubu monster doll craze, fell 3.1 percent after first-half profit and revenue figures missed market forecasts, and IFlytek shares in Shenzhen lost 1.8 percent after the company reported a narrower first-half loss of 204 million yuan.

"It's a fast-moving era where no company can rest on its laurels," Jiang said.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 3.9 percent for the week, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.9 percent.

Global stock markets have been roiled this week by rising bond yields that increase the cost of borrowing for governments, companies and consumers. The US Treasury announced it would double its bond buyback program to rein in yields, but the announcement lowered rates for only one day. Investors are concerned about US debt, which surpassed US$40 trillion this week, higher inflation from rising global oil prices, and a flood of bond issues from tech companies to finance AI development.

On Wall Street, major markets closed higher on Friday, but the gains weren't enough to offset weekly losses as Treasury yields resumed their upward trend. The broad S&P 500 index tumbled 1.4 percent on the week, and the Nasdaq retreated 2 percent.