Investor appetite for new public share offerings has tapered off dramatically with the latest, Jilin Qifeng Chemical Fibre, attracting just a handful of orders from five brokerages on its first day.
Neither Celestial Asia Securities nor Prudential Brokerage attracted orders yesterday.
Phillip Securities said two orders worth a total of $80,000 were received and Sun Hung Kai Securities said two to three orders for a minimal amount were reported.
KGI Asia director Ben Kwong said no margin financing products for the stock had been launched on the market yet.
'The sentiment towards new offerings is completely different compared with a few weeks ago,' said Horace Kwan, an executive director of Celestial Asia. 'A bumpy stock market has dulled punter enthusiasm.'
The brokerage offered margin financing at an annual interest rate of 6 per cent.
Mr Kwan said he was not surprised by the weak response given the market conditions.