Tencent’s share slide since late January has done no favours for the JSE, whose fortunes are partly linked to the Chinese internet company Since reaching a high on January 23, the Hong Kong-listed owner of WeChat and partial owner of the popular Fortnite game has lost a quarter of its value, or $143bn (R1.9-trillion). Bloomberg data show that Tencent’s valuation decline tops Facebook’s $136bn rout in the three trading days that followed its lacklustre earnings call last week. Facebook’s warnings that margins and growth would shrink have precipitated a broader tech sell-off. Tencent’s decline, partly the result of analysts revising down their growth forecasts, has hurt its biggest investor, Naspers, whose shares have slipped 13% over the same period. Since Naspers makes up about a fifth of the JSE, Tencent’s fall is being felt far beyond the Hang Seng Index, and SA’s largest bourse is feeling the pinch too. The top 40 index has lost 5% since the firm started retreating from its Janua...
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