Chan makes mark in first 100 bullish days as chief of HKEX
- As the Hong Kong stock market recovers from the gloom of the Covid-19 years, it looks forward to more IPOs, greater investment and fundraising
If fortunes can turn on riding a wave, the first 100 days of the new chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is a case in point. Speaking days after that personal milestone, Bonnie Chan Yi-ting reflected on the market’s recovery from a Covid-related bear market on the back of positive sentiment on interest rates.
In her first 100 days the capital market reversed a decline in initial public offerings (IPOs), the Hang Seng Index rose more than 10 per cent, and average daily market turnover leapt 35 per cent. The city may soon reclaim its old rung near the top of the global IPO ladder.
To cap it all off, HKEX will no longer be compelled to suspend trading during typhoon shutdowns, unlike rival international exchanges.
If there is one wave or turning point behind the momentum of that comeback, especially in the flow of IPOs, it has to be in mid-April, when mainland regulators unveiled five measures to bolster fundraising in Hong Kong. Chan says the world’s fourth-largest capital market is now vetting more than 100 listing applications.
Given that market conditions are a function of interest rates, the comeback can be expected to take some time yet.
With Beijing’s supportive measures and an end, at least for the time being, to interest rate rises, the first female chief executive of HKEX has had better luck than predecessor Nicolas Aguzin, unfairly blamed by some for the stock market’s slump. His tenure coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic and a rising rates cycle, which saw the Hang Seng Index fall by nearly a fifth after the first rate rise.