Chinese Internet Stocks Hammered in the Risk off Session (BIDU, SINA, RENN, DANG, YOKU, SOHU, CTRP, NTES)

Published on Wednesday, 14 December 2011 22:46 Written by Gerard Lerod

New York, December 14^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Chinese Internet Stocks plunged after the Shanghai Composite closed at a fresh 33-month low on concern over global growth amid the impacts of the debt crisis in the euro zone. Jitters surrounding France’s AAA credit rating and increased borrowing costs in Italy, spurred a slump in the euro below key levels, which in turn dampen demand for riskier assets.

Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), the owner of the largest Chinese Internet search engine, tumbled 3.48% to $117.97 after trading as low as $115.82, a fresh 2-month low. Baidu has tumbled 9.6% this week after its 20day moving average crossed the 50day moving average to the downside and after Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating, while cutting its target price to $130 after the firm lowered earnings estimates, citing lower keyword prices. Trading volume was again above average, with 7.15 million shares exchanging hands.

Sina Corp. (NASDAQ:SINA), the Chinese online media company and owner of the Weibo microblogging service commonly referred to as the Twitter of China, tumbled 5% to $54.13 after trading at a new yearly low of $53.75 on below trading volume. Earlier in the month, Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to a Buy from Hold. Year to date, the stock has lost 21.4%.

Renren (NYSE:RENN), the leading real name social networking Internet platform in China, gained 0.28%to $3.60 after trading as low as $3.42. The stock traded with below trading volume, with 2.77 million shares exchanging hands. Renren’s market cap has suffered greatly in the year, plunging 80% during the year to $1.41 billion.

Dangdang (NYSE:DANG), the ecommerce site that it’s known as the Chinese Amazon.com, tumbled 5.36% to $4.41, closing at the lows of the session and below its calculated support at $4.56. The stock has now lost 6.6% in December, extending its year to date rout to 83.7%. Last week Dangdang jumped 11.6%, which came after Dangdang surged 20% in one of the days on news that it will follow Amazon.com into the digital books, as it will launch an e-book platform on December 21^st

Youko.com (NYSE:YOKU), the Chinese version of you tube, tumbled 4.2% to $17.85 after trading as low as $17.72. The stock extended its weekly tumble to 10.4%, turning lower for the month this week. Youko had a difficult November, falling 14.5% after the company missed earnings expectations on revenues that were above consensus, while it disappointed investors after providing downside revenue growth guidance for the current quarter.

Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU), the Chinese search engine and Internet portal, fell 3.96% to $45.81 after trading as low as $45.46, a new yearly low. The stock has lost 7.3% so far this month. Earlier in the month, UBS upgraded Sohu to a Buy from Hold.

Ctrip.com (NASDAQ:CTRP), the one-stop China travel service provider, fell 2.58% to $23 after trading as low as $22.83, a new yearly low. Year to date, the stock has tumbled 43%.

And NetEase.com (NASDAQ:NTES), the online game developer, fell 1.38% to $46.51 after trading as low as $45.91, closing just above its 20day moving average at $45.50 and above its 50day moving average at $45.20. For the month, the stock is still higher by 3.2% after earlier in the month the company’s Board approved a new $50 million share repurchase program.