For now, it would take a healthy dose of policy and earnings surprises for the stock to resume its uptrend

Estimates compiled by Bloomberg showed that Alibaba’s revenue likely grew 1.4 per cent last quarter from a year earlier, a far cry from the days of heady expansion. Cost-control efforts probably helped its gross margin to rise to 39.2 per cent, from 36.7 per cent the previous quarter. Analysts’ forward earnings-per-share estimates fell more than 6 per cent from a December high.

The tech giant is curtailing its global expansion ambitions, increasingly focusing on core areas such as online shopping and cloud-computing services. A source said that it sold off the last of its shares in Indian fintech giant Paytm last week, accelerating a withdrawal from the world’s fastest-growing mobile and internet arena.