What happened
Even with potentially good news for investors in XPeng (XPEV -6.39%), some more big-picture concerns drove shares of the Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) maker lower today.
Shares of XPeng dropped as much as 10%, before closing Tuesday's trading session down 8.3%.
So what
Recent positive news for XPeng stock was being overshadowed today by more macro concerns leading to risk aversion in many global markets. Two weeks ago, Xpeng said it was being included in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect program. This opened up the stock to be owned by more qualified investors in mainland China. And over the weekend, the company said it will be included in Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index as a constituent stock, beginning March 7.
An XPeng P7 sedan. Image source: XPeng.
The inclusion makes XPeng an early addition to the index's "autonomous technology" category that it has added as a sixth theme for constituent selection. That category includes businesses such as self-driving vehicles, autonomous robots, and other smart technologies.
Now what
According to the announcement, the Hang Seng Tech Index includes "the 30 largest technology companies listed in Hong Kong that have high business exposure to technology themes and pass the index's screening criteria."
That inclusion is potentially a long-term positive for XPeng and its shareholders. But today's stock move is related to the more-general market sentiment away from higher-risk assets that include fast-growing tech stocks. XPeng certainly fits into that category as it delivered nearly 100,000 vehicles in 2021, representing an increase of 263% year over year.
But investors don't like uncertainty, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict is bringing much of that as global powers need to react to the ongoing situation. For today, that has led to a big drop in shares of some Chinese stocks, including XPeng. For longer-term investors that size their positions appropriately, that could represent an opportunity.
