Alibaba Group Holding missed market expectations for first-quarter revenue on Thursday, as the company's domestic e-commerce sales came under pressure from cautious spending by Chinese consumers in a faltering economy.

US-listed shares of the company fell about 4% in pre-market trading.

A halting post-Covid recovery in China coupled with a persistently weak property market and high job insecurity levels have sapped consumer confidence and spending power in the world's number two economy, hitting global firms across the board.

Alibaba is also grappling with stiff competition from rivals including JD.com and discount-focused retail platforms such as PDD Holdings' Pinduoduo and ByteDance-owned Douyin.

Alibaba reported revenue of 243.24 billion yuan (US$33.98 billion or RM150.4 billion) for the quarter ended June 30, compared with analysts' average estimate of 249.05 billion yuan, according to LSEG data.

Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders in the quarter was 24.27 billion yuan, compared with 34.33 billion yuan a year earlier.

  - Reuters