Jack Ma Completely Lost His Stake in Alibaba’s Ant Group

U.S. stock indices are edging higher in the premarket this European afternoon ahead of the busy week that will see the releases of several significant economic reports, including those on the country's inflation and initial jobless claims, along with some early earnings reports. Investors will also be encouraged by Friday's session turnaround, which saw major gains following an upbeat report on Nonfarm payrolls.

Corporatewise, shares of the real estate marketplace company Zillow (Z) gained 4% after Bank of America (BAC) again upgraded the stock – now from hold to buy, betting on improved outlook despite a challenging macroeconomic environment.

Rebounding oil prices bolstered many energy stocks premarket. Thus, Marathon Oil (MRO), Halliburton (HAL), EOG Resources and Hess all rallied more than 2%. Shares of Alibaba (BABA) are also up 5% premarket after the news about founder Jack Ma nullified his majority ownership over the subordinated payment company and formerly failed IPO Ant Group. At the time, Ant was planning a dual listing on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges that would have raised a record $34.5B (Alibaba owns 33% of Ant).

Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs Group (GS) is embarking on one of its biggest rounds of job cuts ever as it locks in on a plan to eliminate about 3,200 positions this week, with the bank’s leadership upstaging it’s rivals to shed jobs.

Apple (AAPL) reported it has shipped more than $2.5 billion worth of iPhones from India from April to December, nearly twice the previous fiscal year’s total, underscoring its accelerating shift from China with geopolitical tensions on the rise.

Major European stock markets opened higher on Monday, as investors set their sights on reports on EU unemployment rates and Sentix investor confidence. Industrial production in Germany rose by 0.2% in November 2022 MoM. The indicator fell 0.4% in the reported month on an annual basis.

As of 3:30 p.m. CET, the German DAX advanced by 0.28% as Mercedes Benz shares climbed 1.56%. The British FTSE 100 rose by 0.87%. The best performer was BT Group, going up 2.05%. The French CAC 40 stood flat with ASML Holding N.V. being the best performer up 2.47%. The Euro Stoxx 600 advanced by 0.29%.

The euro was 0.63% higher against the dollar at the time of writing, at $1.07130, while the pound sterling rose 0.55% to $1.21610.

Asian stock markets also rebounded earlier this morning, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 having been closed for a holiday. As of Sunday, China no longer requires incoming travelers to quarantine, which is likely to cause a boost in passenger numbers in and out of the country. South Korean Kospi Composite skyrocketed by 2.63% at the close, while the Australian S&P/ASX 200 added 0.59% and Hong Kong Hang Seng jumped by 1.89%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.58% and the Shenzhen Composite soared 0.72%.