Alibaba's Shares Dip as China Stands Firm on Economic Policy

Shares in Alibaba Group, which controls 80% of China's e-commerce market, slumped in its second day of trading in New York after comments from Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei weighed on Chinese stocks listed in the US.

Alibaba's stock finished 4.26% lower at $89.89 on 22 September.

Chinese firms trading in the US dropped on Monday, alongside stocks in Hong Kong and Shanghai, after Jiwei said Beijing won't alter its economic policies drastically in response to a weak economic indicator.

While Jiwei did not mention any indicators, the official factory growth numbers, together with weaker readings in industrial power consumption, retail sales, inflation, investment and imports have raised calls for Beijing to do more to prevent the Chinese economy from suffering a sharp slowdown.

Bullish on BABA

However, the second-day selloff in Alibaba shares did not startle analysts at MKM Partners, who forecast a near doubling of the company's stock price over the next year.

MKM analyst Rob Sanderson has placed a 'buy' rating and a 12-month price target of $125, saying the company is a "powerhouse" in China, which is considered the best growth market for Internet retailing.

"People tend to believe that Alibaba's growth is locked in with the growth rate of China, which is under big pressure now," Jeff Papp, a senior analyst at Oberweis Asset Management, which manages assets worth $1.5bn, told Bloomberg.

MKM's Sanderson said: "We see [Alibaba shares] has a core holding for growth managers."

Alibaba Group's NYSE share sale, on 19 September, is officially the largest in history at $25bn, after the firm and some of its stakeholders sold additional shares.

To claim the title of the world's largest IPO, Alibaba's stock sale beat Agricultural Bank of China's (ABC) public offering, which raised $22.1bn in 2010.