HK bourse slips in global IPO rankings

Macroeconomic turbulence is seen dragging the Hong Kong stock market down to third place in global initial public offerings in the first half of 2019, lagging behind the New York Stock Exchange and the tech-heavy Nasdaq, with Shanghai expected to rank No 4, according to top accounting firms.

By the end of June, Hong Kong is likely to have 76 IPOs on board, a sharp fall from the 101 IPOs recorded in the same period a year ago. But the total fundraising amount could rise 38 percent to HK$69.5 billion ($8.89 billion), the highest for the same period since 2015.

The IPO activity on the A-share market has slowed down. It is estimated that 64 companies will list in the first half raising a total of 60.4 billion yuan, down 35 percent by proceeds year-on-year.