Thailand central bank policy rate held at 1.00% as of Aug 26; expected 1.00%, prior 1.00%.

On Aug 25, sources said Jack Ma has increased his holdings in Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares over several days, purchasing more than HK$600 mln in total as Alibaba launched a share placement financing.

Hong Kong stocks traded choppily in the morning; at midday the Hang Seng Index was up 0.68% and the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.58%. Tech and internet names led the rebound: Xiaomi (01810.HK) rose over 4%, Meituan (03690.HK) and Kuaishou (01024.HK) rose over 2%, Baidu (09888.HK), Alibaba (09988.HK) and Tencent (00700.HK) rose over 1%. Financials were also active: China International Capital Co (03908.HK) and Shenwan Hongyuan Hong Kong (00218.HK) rose over 8%, while Nanhua Futures (02691.HK) and China Merchants Securities (06099.HK) rose over 5%.