The mainland authorities unveiled the much-vaunted 'through-train' scheme one year ago today, and while the train has long been stuck in the siding, investors still believe it can one day power the local stock market to a much-needed rebound.
The Hang Seng Index surged to a record high following the announcement of the plan, which would allow mainlanders to invest directly in local stocks. It bounded upwards more than 10,000 points in just over two months.
But since then, the benchmark has been gripped by volatility and has steadily given up all of its gains, falling 7,328.28 points or 26.35 per cent this year alone to close yesterday at 20,484.37.
'We had one hell of a run and it was quite surprising for Hong Kong to have such a run,' said Howard Gorges, a vice-chairman of South China Securities.
'I still expect some form of the through-train will come to fruition, but it's probably best not to compare it with whatever we were hearing a year ago.'
The implementation of the through-train scheme has been put on indefinite hold by the authorities across the border, and it is not expected to come to light until next year at the earliest.
However, market observers still expect the mainland will eventually develop outflow channels from the domestic market to alleviate swelling liquidity levels.
