NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 04:44 ET — Premarket
- Li Auto was up about 4% in premarket trading, tracking gains in other U.S.-listed Chinese EV names.
- A global risk-on tone on expectations of further Federal Reserve rate cuts has supported growth stocks into year-end.
- China’s passenger car association head warned EV and battery demand could slump early in 2026 as purchase incentives are phased out.
Li Auto Inc shares rose about 4% to $17.44 in premarket trading on Monday, according to LSEG data.
The move lands in the final days of the year, when thin liquidity can exaggerate swings and investors position around macro expectations.
Global stocks were on track to end 2025 at record highs on Monday as traders leaned into bets that the Federal Reserve will deliver more interest-rate cuts in 2026.
That matters for automakers because lower rates can ease financing costs for buyers, and for stocks because “long-duration” growth names tend to be more sensitive to changes in yields.
“We’re not seeing runaway inflation risk as a base case so we’re still thinking the Fed has room to cut,” Fidelity International multi-asset portfolio manager Becky Qin said. Reuters
In premarket trade, Nio rose about 4% and XPeng gained about 6%, while Tesla slipped about 2%.
The Fed cut its main funds rate to a 3.5%-3.75% range this month, and money markets are pricing two further quarter-point cuts by September, Reuters reported.
Even so, investors in China’s EV complex are weighing signs demand could cool after a year-end rush.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of China’s passenger car association, said in a social media post that demand for new energy batteries would “drop drastically” after the end of the year and urged producers to cut output. Reuters
Cui said sales of “green passenger vehicles” would fall at least 30% early next year from the fourth quarter as purchase tax incentives are phased out. Reuters
The same report said China’s lithium battery exports to the European Union rose 4% in 2025, while exports to the United States fell 9.5%.
Competition in China’s EV market remains intense, with rivals pushing scale and new partnerships.
Leapmotor expects to sell more than 4 million vehicles a year within the next decade and aims to sell 1 million cars in 2026, its CEO Zhu Jiangming said on Monday.
Leapmotor also said it would issue 74.8 million shares to state-owned FAW and enter a technology partnership to develop and make cars for FAW from 2026.
Li Auto is a Chinese electric-vehicle maker with U.S.-listed shares, competing in a crowded domestic market where demand signals and policy shifts can move the group quickly.
Traders will take their next cue on Tuesday when the Fed publishes minutes from its latest meeting, a release that often drives Treasury yields and the dollar and can spill into high-beta sectors such as EVs.
