Whole quota used to buy HK stocks
Print Edition
CHINESE mainland investors, for the first time, used the entire 10.5 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) daily quota in a cross-border program buying Hong Kong stocks, boosting turnover under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect to a record.
The buying boosted the Hang Seng Index 3.8 percent to its highest in nearly seven years. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland firms rose 5.8 percent to a four-year high.
Hong Kong stock exchange Chairman Chow Chung Kong told a news conference that total turnover under the stock connect scheme reached a record high of 29.9 billion yuan yesterday. Total market turnover in Hong Kong also hit a record high of HK$252.4 billion (US$32.6 billion), surpassing the 2007 level.
“Market capitalization in total for all the listed companies in Hong Kong today reached HK$28.6 trillion ... making us the highest market capitalization exchange in the world,” Chow said.
The milestones follow signs of rapidly rising interest in Hong Kong stocks from mainland investors, after months of tepid interest that caused the southbound leg of the stock connector to go largely unused.
“We are in the midst of a profound structural change: the gradual but accelerating opening of Chinese mainland financial markets,” said HKEx Chief Executive Charles Li, who was quoted in a press release commenting on the day’s performance.
“Our securities market provides a good investment outlet for mainland funds and is an excellent way for mainland investors to diversify their portfolios.”
Chinese fund managers, however, said they are moving money more to seek arbitrage profits from the massive valuation gap between Hong Kong and Shanghai shares in the same companies, with Hong Kong shares trading at discounts of 30-90 percent to their mainland peers.
Chen Zhizhong, a Shenzhen-based analyst at China Merchant Securities, said the recent three-day weekend was full of discussion among analysts about whether the time was right to move into Hong Kong.
The consensus answer was yes.
“The party has begun, and you can feel the excitement today,” Chen said. “It’s hard to say when the music will stop.”
Over the past year, the mainland’s CSI 300 index has soared above 90 percent, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index rose just 29.8 percent.
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