China: Stocks open lower on IPO announcement, despite central bank liquidity easing

[SHANGHAI] China's main stock indexes opened lower on Wednesday after the country's securities regulator announced a new batch of initial public offerings, despite the central bank's pledge to ease short-term liquidity.

The CSI300 index fell 0.4 per cent to 3,209.89 points at 1:31 GMT, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4 per cent to 2,996.85 points.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 1.9 per cent, to 19,268.19 points.

Late on Tuesday, China's securities regulator said it had approved seven initial public offerings under new listing rules that took effect on Jan. 1.

The regulator said the IPOs would have limited impact on the market, as under the new rules, pre-paid capital is no longer needed from investors during the IPO subscriptions process.

Also on Tuesday, China's central bank pledged to inject more than 600 billion yuan (US$91.22 billion) to help ease a liquidity squeeze expected before the Lunar New Year in early February.

REUTERS