Mainland investors turn sellers through HK stock link

A woman walks past a banner reading “First Time Ever, Stock-Connect China” during the launch ceremony of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect

Mainland Chinese investors briefly turned net sellers of Hong Kong stocks through the city’s bourse link for the first time yesterday, after taking up just 6.1 percent of daily buying quotas in the program’s first week.
The balance for the daily limit on Hong Kong equity-buying through the link rose above 10.5 billion yuan (USD1.7 billion) from 9:33 a.m. to 9:58 a.m. local time yesterday, signaling more investors were selling shares than placing buy orders, according to exchange data compiled by Bloomberg. About 1.3 percent of the daily allowance was used up by the market close, compared with 54 percent in Shanghai. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index soared 3.8 percent in Hong Kong, outpacing a 1.9 percent gain by Shanghai’s benchmark gauge, after China unexpectedly cut interest rates.
“Mainland investors are taking profit,” said Alex Wong, Hong Kong-based asset-management
director at Ample Capital Ltd., which oversees about $150 million. “The difference is in investor behavior. In Shanghai people tend to exit on highs after policy announcements, whereas in Hong Kong people are not short term.”
The quota used by Chinese investors in Hong Kong has dwindled every day since the link’s Nov. 17 debut. Some mainland investors don’t have approvals needed to invest offshore, there aren’t many arbitrage opportunities for them to exploit and small-cap stocks, which they favor, weren’t included in the program, Charles Li, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.’s chief executive officer, wrote on his blog over the weekend as he cited reasons for the slow start.
“We all shared in the collective enthusiasm prior to launch, so when we see the volume drop we’re obviously a bit disappointed,” he wrote. “This is a long-term scheme and we shouldn’t get too hung up on the initial numbers.”
China is counting on the bourse link to help open up its capital account, boost local equity valuations and increase global use of the yuan. For Hong Kong, the program is part of the city’s effort to cement its status as a financial gateway to the biggest emerging market.
International investors sought to buy the maximum 13 billion yuan of Daily quota usage in Shanghai has outweighed that in Hong Kong by at least six times since the link began. Kana Nishizawa , Bloomberg