Urgent.News

What's breaking now, across thousands of outlets.

World

Hong Kong to propose criminal penalties for bid-rigging after deadly Tai Po fire

Hong Kong’s leader is expected to announce reforms introducing criminal penalties for bid-rigging on Thursday, when the government will also release the final investigation report into the Tai Po inferno, the South China Morning Post has learned. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and his senior officials will announce the proposed measures and give an update on efforts to pursue “administrative…

Hong Kong to propose criminal penalties for bid-rigging after deadly Tai Po fire

Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co., a prominent circuit board supplier for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, experienced a disappointing initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, with its shares plummeting by up to 6% on the debut trading day. The underwhelming performance was attributed to a broader sell-off in China's AI and tech hardware sectors, causing investor sentiment to wane.

The company priced 113.8 million shares at HK$86.80 each, below its maximum price by 7.5% and significantly discounted at 27% compared to its Tuesday closing price on the Shenzhen-listed stock. Despite this, the Shenzhen-listed shares have plummeted over 63% since July, bringing the company's market capitalization to a reduced 185 billion yuan (US$27.7 billion).

"Chinese AI-related stocks' market enthusiasm has visibly waned since July," remarked Stevan Tam, associate director at Fulbright Financial. "Once valuations face a correction, regaining the prior speculative premium is challenging unless overseas markets witness another robust rebound." The Hong Kong market, primarily composed of chipmakers and AI stocks listed on the Shanghai exchange, has also seen a decline of over 40% from its July peak.

Other mainland PCB manufacturers listed in Hong Kong this year, such as Victory Giant Technology and Guangzhou Guanghe Technology Co., have also declined by around 70% from their peaks and now trade below their offer prices. Zhongji Innolight, the city's largest listing in recent times, has experienced a 26% drop in the past three months.

Despite strong backing from financial giants like JPMorgan Asset Management, Alibaba Group, and quantitative firms like Jane Street, the Dongshan listing witnessed weak investor demand, underscoring the fragility of market sentiment amidst prevailing uncertainties.

Written by urgent.news from SCMP Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.

This story

This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.

Read the original at scmp.com →

More in World

More from Wednesday 28 October →