HKEX interim chief executive predicts bullish IPO market in Year of the Ox

HONG KONG -- With the market soaring to an over-30-month high on Tuesday, Calvin Tai Chi Kin, interim chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), expressed optimism that the fund-raising through initial public offerings (IPOs) will continue to be robust this year.

The market had a bullish start on the first trading day of the Year of the Ox. The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened higher Tuesday and hit 30,793.48 points in the afternoon, the strongest level since June 2018. The index closed at 30,746.66 points, up 1.90 percent from the previous trading day.

When addressing the Lunar New Year Market Open Ceremony, Tai said HKEX will continue to introduce more new economy and biotech businesses and bring more opportunities for investors.

Hong Kong has built a favorable financial ecosystem for businesses in the new economy and biotechnology, which accounted for about 60 percent of the total IPO fund-raising here in 2020, Tai said.

IPO equity funds raised in Hong Kong last year stood at $51.28 billion, up 26.5 percent from 2019, according to an annual report of the HKEX. The bourse was ranked as the world's second-largest IPO market only after Nasdaq.