Evergrande shares jumped 42% within 15 minutes of resuming trade amid investigation woes

• China Evergrande shares surged as much as 42% on Tuesday after trade in the stock resumed.
• The stock was suspended last Thursday following news its chairman has been put under police surveillance.

Shares of embattled Chinese real-estate developer Evergrande surged as much as 42% in 15 minutes after the stock resumed trading on Tuesday.

Trading in the Hong Kong-listed shares was suspended last Thursday after Bloomberg reported that Hui Ka Yan, the company's founder and chairman, had been put under police surveillance.

Evergrande said on Thursday that Hui has been subject to "mandatory measures" relating to "suspicion of illegal crimes."

Late on Monday, Evergrande said there is no other inside information relating to the company that needs to be disclosed.

Evergrande's share prices have been massively volatile even before Tuesday. The stock had resumed trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange in August following a 17-month suspension since March 2022.

The real-estate giant had over $300 billion worth of liabilities at the end of 2022 and filed for bankruptcy protection in the US on August 17.

But the debt-laden company's troubles had only been deepening.

In late September, Evergrande canceled key creditor meetings as part of its debt-restructuring exercise and announced it would be unable to issue new debt. Evergrande's main domestic unit, Hengda Real Estate Group, also announced it failed to make payments on the principal and interest for a 4 billion Chinese yuan, or $547 million, bond due on September 25.

China Evergrande shares surged as much as 42% in early trade. They have pared gains and were 17% higher at 38 Hong Kong cents at 11.06 a.m. Hong Kong time on Tuesday.