Alibaba stock slides after China cracks down on monopolies

Internet giant Alibaba’s stock dropped by as much as eight percent, leading a tech selloff in Hong Kong on Monday, amid the ongoing investigation by China’s antitrust regulators.

Shares of Chinese shopping platform Meituan dived 5.3 percent, while multinational technology holding Tencent plunged 4.8 percent. The broader Hang Seng Tech index declined by 4.33 percent.

Alibaba’s stock price extended previous losses, plunging to the lowest level since early July, despite the corporation’s decision to raise a proposed stock buyback program, launched earlier this quarter. On Sunday, the online retailer announced plans to increase repurchasing from $6 billion to $10 billion in company stock, and to extend the buyback through 2022.

Last week, the company’s US shares slid 13 percent shortly after the Chinese authorities announced a probe into the e-commerce giant as part of a broadened anti-monopoly crackdown on tech companies.

According to the State Administration for Market Regulation, the country’s top market watchdog, Alibaba had been subject to formal investigation for its “choosing one of two” policy for allegedly putting pressure on its sellers not to offer their goods on rival services.

The Alibaba-affiliated Ant Group was summoned for a regulatory meeting at China’s central bank with the agencies overseeing securities, banking, and insurance. The firm, the long-anticipated IPO of which had been abruptly called off earlier this year, was ordered to rectify its businesses.

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