The overnight interbank rate in Hong Kong rose to the highest in nearly a month on Friday due to large amounts of funds being tied up by massive interest in initial public offerings (IPOs) of stock.
"Market liquidity was very tight because of the two IPOs, and some players were not eager to lend out funds," one trader said. The volatile overnight rate was quoted at 4.60/4.70 percent late on Friday, after hitting an intraday high of 5.0 percent and a low of 3.80 percent, compared with Thursday's close at 3.30/3.50 percent. The share offering of Dalian Port (PDA) Co Ltd, China's third-largest oil port, to retail investors closed on Friday and was over 700 times subscribed. Market sources said the issue had soaked up about HK$151.4 billion (US $19.4 billion) in funds before its allocation. The shares will begin trading on April 28.
The retail portion of an IPO by Shanghai Prime Machinery closed on Thursday with a trading debut scheduled for April 27. It was about 488 times covered and the issue had soaked up HK$62 billion in funds. The currency was trading at 7.7548/49 to the US dollar, compared with the previous day's close of 7.7550/52.