What happened
Shares of the Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio (NIO 2.45%) were rising this morning as investors reacted to comments made by Chinese President Xi Jinping about his country's focus on new technologies.
Nio investors may also have been optimistic as the broader market rose today as investors reversed some of the pessimism. The electric vehicle stock was up by 5.8% as of 12:59 p.m. ET.
So what
In a speech given on Sunday laying out China's plans for the next five years, Xi highlighted the country's need to focus on developing its own core technologies.
Image source: Getty Images.
"We will focus on national strategic needs, gather strength to carry out indigenous and leading scientific and technological research, and resolutely win the battle in key core technologies," Xi said in the speech.
Nio investors likely assumed comments about core technologies include electric vehicles.
China's technology industry has suffered recently as the government has become more strict in its oversight of tech, which has ended up erasing nearly $1 trillion in market cap for Chinese tech companies, according to Bloomberg.
But Xi's speech bolstered some Chinese stocks as investors viewed comments from the country's president as a shift in tone toward tech companies.
Now what
Nio investors may also be reacting positively to the stock today as shares of companies across nearly all sectors rose. The S&P 500 was up 2.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 3.4% in early afternoon trading.
Investors were likely responding to better-than-expected earnings from two banks and news that the U.K. was scrapping most of its planned tax cuts, which helped boost the British pound and rekindled some optimism in the market.
Nio shareholders should remember, though, that there could be more short-term pain with the stock as investors try to determine the overall health of economies around the world.
