*CHINA SINGLES' DAY SALE GENERATES 1.35B PACKAGES: POST BUREAU

Here's a number that might help to lift Alibaba's battered share price. Even as trade tensions and the weakening yuan punish the Chinese economy, the e-commerce giant still managed to book a new gross sales record - in dollar terms, no less - during its annual "Singles Day" sales event on Sunday.

As China's corporate sector strains under its enormous debt burden, Alibaba's sales figure could help reassure Chinese investors who are anxious about the prospects for faltering economic growth that patriotic consumption could help avert a broader crisis, especially after official data revealed some weakness earlier this year.

The record-breaking success will also help cement the legacy of founder and outgoing chairman Jack Ma, who is preparing to hand the reins to Daniel Zhang, who will take over as Aibaba's chairman next year.

This year, gross merchandise value (GMV), a figure that shows sales across the Chinese e-commerce giant's various shopping platforms, surpassed last year's $28 billion (200 billion yuan) record at around 9:30 pm Hong Kong Time (9:34 a.m. ET) on Sunday, and kept marching higher through the rest of the day, according to twitter user @yuantalks and CNBC.