Tencent gains $26 billion after US reassurances on WeChat ban
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Tencent Holdings Ltd. jumped the most in two weeks after White House officials are said to have reassured American businesses that a ban on its WeChat app won’t be as broad as feared.
The WeChat owner jumped as much as 4.2% in Hong Kong Monday after people familiar with matter said the Trump administration is privately seeking to reassure U.S. companies including Apple Inc. that they can still do business with Tencent’s WeChat messaging app in China. In recent days, senior administration officials have been reaching out to some companies, realizing that the impact of an all-out ban on the popular app could be devastating for U.S. technology, retail, gaming, telecommunications and other industries, according to the people.
Company management earlier this month sought to reassure investors that the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Aug. 6 may apply only to WeChat’s overseas operations. The ban, which came amid efforts by the White House to curtail the rise of Chinese-owned technology giants like Huawei Technologies Co. and TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd., had erased roughly $66 billion from Tencent’s value, though today’s rebound means the stock has recouped all but $20 billion of those losses.
