Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) and JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) made record sales at the "618" shopping festival in China on Thursday, CNBC reported.What Happened JD.com reported a total transaction volume of $37.99 billion in the 24-hours of the festival, according to CNBC. This is a 33.6% increase over the approximately $28.5 billion total transaction volume reported last year.Alibaba reported a gross merchandise value, as it refers to the total sales across its e-commerce platforms, of $98.52 billion.618, celebrated on June 18, is one of the two major yearly shopping events promoted by the e-commerce companies, the other being Singles Day celebrated on November 11.Why It Matters The rise in 618 sales numbers for the two Chinese e-commerce behemoths suggests that consumer demand remains strong in the country despite the economic impact of the extended lockdowns implemented to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).Alibaba and JD.com had also posted record sales of $67.6 billion together during the latest Singles Day festival in November last year.Price Action Alibaba shares closed 0.3% higher at $223.54 in New York on Thursday and traded 0.3% higher in the after-hours session.JD.com shares closed nearly 2% lower at $60.79 in New York the same day and added 0.3% in the after-hours.See more from Benzinga * Amazon And Valentino Jointly Sue New York Designer For Counterfeiting Shoes * JD.com Shares Surge In Hong Kong Debut * ByteDance Explores Partnership With Singapore's Lee Business Family For Digital Banking License: Report(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
