Hong Kong-Shenzhen Trading Link Has Not-So-Happy Birthday

(Bloomberg) -- The first birthday of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen stock link didn’t turn out to be much of a celebration.

Traders used the link to dump 417 million yuan ($63 million) of equities in the Chinese tech hub as the Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 1.9 percent. Selling was even more intense in Shanghai, where foreigners offloaded 2.7 billion yuan of shares, the most in more than a year.

Sun Jianbo, president of China Vision Capital Management Co. in Beijing, said that while Dec. 5 might be an "auspicious date" for mainland investors, those overseas were focused just on trading.

"The market of some blue chips has ballooned to extreme levels and foreign investors were dumping them via the link," he said.

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.