Asian equities were largely higher overnight despite the U.S. dollar strengthening overnight. Hong Kong led the push higher on very high volumes, the Philippines and Pakistan outperformed, while Mainland China underperformed after afternoon profit-taking.

China’s technology stocks slumped Wednesday after a brief bull run earlier in the week. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-traded stock fell 1.03%, while search engine giant Baidu fell 2.11% after it reported a 2% drop in revenue for its fourth quarter compared to a year earlier as artificial intelligence rivalry heats up in China.

Hong Kong stocks retreated from near a five-month high as a bull run in Chinese technology leaders hit technical barriers while search-engine operator Baidu slumped after reporting a decline in revenue.

Gary Black highlighted metrics from Baidu's autonomous driving, noting that the robotaxi service achieved 1.1 million paid rides in Q4.

The Hong Kong shares of Baidu plunged on Monday, wiping $2.4 billion off its market value, after the founder of the Chinese search engine giant was not spotted at a rare meeting between President Xi Jinping and corporate leaders.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) saw its shares climb in Hong Kong trading on Wednesday after confirming its $2.1 billion acquisition of YY Live from JOYY Inc. (NASDAQ:YY). Baidus stock (HK:9888) surged up to 3% to HK$88.

Now, Baidu has finally bought the business, known as YY Live, after Beijing softened its stance towards the tech sector following a regulatory crackdown four years ago. JOYY had received about $1.86 billion in February 2021 as part of the original agreement and an additional cash of about $240 million on Tuesday.

Baidu's stock fell about 7% in Hong Kong on Monday after CEO Robin Li was not seen at a meeting between China's President Xi Jinping and corporate executives.

A recent summit for private entrepreneurs in Beijing, attended by tech leaders including Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Huawei founder Zhengfei Ren, has drawn attention to the notable absence of Baidu founder Robin Li.

U.S. stock indexes are wavering on Wall Street Wednesday. The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged, a day after setting an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 122 points, or 0.3%, as of 12:18 p.

On Monday, the Hong Kong-listed shares of Baidu took a nosedive by 7%, wiping out $2.4 billion from the company's market value.

The Hong Kong shares of Baidu plunged on Monday, wiping $2.4 billion off its market value, after the founder of the Chinese search engine giant was not spotted at a rare meeting between President Xi Jinping and corporate leaders.