MAINLAND investors 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 (US$1.7 billion) from 9:33 a.m. to 9:58 a.m. local time, signaling more investors were selling shares than placing buy orders, according to exchange data. About 19 percent of the daily allowance for Shanghai purchases was taken up at 10:13 a.m.

    “Mainland investors are taking profit,” said Alex Wong, Hong Kong-based asset management director at Ample Capital Ltd., which oversees about US$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 mainland 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, said as he cited reasons for the slow start. (SD-Agencies)