Looking further afield and it’s been a tough year for Chinese stocks. The Chinese government has increased control over its largest technology companies, and COVID lockdowns have continued for far longer in China than the US. Shares have fallen across the board and JD.com, China’s biggest direct online retailer, hasn’t escaped the carnage. Before today its stock price was down a quarter this year and it's fallen a further 2% today.

There’s only one piece of company news today. JD’s founder Richard Liu has settled a lawsuit filed against him by a student who accused him of rape. That news probably hasn’t affected the stock price, so we can only assume that investors are continuing to worry about investing in China. Those worries are understandable – there are no signs that the Chinese government is about to lighten up on regulation.

That said, there is a positive case for JD. The company is profitable and its ‘active customers’ number has risen by 9% over the last year. Profit margins are increasing too. Buying stock is a bet on how tough Chinese regulation will be over the next five years.

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US stock market movers on Monday 3 October 2022

Monday's market movers so far