Tencent becomes world’s worst stock bet with $170 billion wipeout

China’s most loved stock Tencent has turned into the world’s biggest stock loser this month.

According to Bloomberg, the Chinese Internet giant had tumbled 23 percent in July as of Wednesday, after wiping about $170 billion of market value.

Out of top 10 losers in shareholder value this month, nine are Chinese companies, including Meituan and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Tencent’s shares rebounded by 7.1 percent on Thursday, tracking broader gains in Chinese stocks after Beijing intensified efforts to alleviate concerns about its crackdown on the private education industry, reported Bloomberg.

“I don’t see an end to the regulatory crackdown. Data security is a top priority to policy makers in the coming years. It’s a new normal. Valuations will have to be adjusted to cope with that, especially for technology giants like Tencent,” Paul Pong, managing director at Pegasus Fund Managers Ltd, told Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Tencent said that it has temporarily suspended registration of WeChat’s new users in China, as the regulators in the country come down heavily on the internet firms.

Earlier this month, China’s Cyberspace Administration suspended the registration of new users from ride-hailing app Didi.

Last month, US President Joe Biden revoked and replaced executive orders targeting TikTok, WeChat and eight other software applications signed by his predecessor President Donald Trump. The Quint