Finance

JD.com leads losses in Hong Kong, falling 10% after Walmart confirms stake sale

Published

4 months ago

August 21, 2024

Signage at JD.com’s warehouse in Shanghai, China, on Mar. 9, 2022. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday added over 80 firms to its list of entities facing possible expulsion from American exchanges, which include China’s JD.com, Pinduoduo, Bilibili, and NetEase.

Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com plunged 10% on Wednesday in Hong Kong after U.S. retailer Walmart confirmed it will sell its stake in the Chinese firm.

Walmart told CNBC the decision to sell its stake will allow the company to “focus on our strong China operations for Walmart China and Sam’s Club, and deploy capital towards other priorities.”

The company said “JD has been a valued partner to us over the past 8 years, and we are committed to a continued commercial relationship with them.”

The stock was the largest loser on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index. The U.S.-listed shares fell 9.5% in after-hours trading.

Walmart entered into a strategic alliance with the Chinese company in June 2016, with the U.S. retailer taking a 5% stake in JD.com back then.

In its 2023 annual report, JD.com reported that Walmart owns 9.4% of ordinary shares in the company as of March 31, holding just over 289 million shares.

JD.com did not have a comment when contacted by CNBC.

— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.

Finance

Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund at Citadel climbs 15.1% in 2024

Published

8 minutes ago

January 2, 2025

Business Finance News

Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, speaks during The New York Times’ annual DealBook Summit in New York City, Dec. 4, 2024.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s handful of hedge funds at Citadel all posted double-digit returns in 2024, led by its tactical trading strategy.

Citadel’s multistrategy Wellington fund, its largest, finished the year up 15.1%, according to a person familiar with the returns. All five strategies used in the flagship fund — commodities, equities, fixed income, credit and quantitative — were positive for the year, the person said.

The Miami-based firm’s tactical trading fund was the standout performer with a 22.3% return for 2024, the person said. Citadel’s equity fund returned roughly 18%, while its global fixed income strategy gained 9.7% last year.

Citadel declined to comment. The hedge fund giant had $66 billion in assets under management as of December.

The stock market just closed out a banner year with the S&P 500 surging 23.3%, building on a gain of 24.2% in 2023. The two-year gain of 53% is the best since the nearly 66% rally in 1997 and 1998.

Griffin recently criticized the steep tariffs President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to implement, saying crony capitalism could be a consequence.

The CEO also said he’s not focused on taking Citadel Securities public in the foreseeable future. The securities firm is a Miami-based market maker founded by the 56-year-old Florida native in 2002.