China’s stock investors cannot gauge sentiment as regulator cuts access to key data

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The Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges will only publish limited information once per day of trading conducted via the northbound link of the Stock Connect scheme

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China’s US$8.3 trillion stock market has seen an exodus of foreign investors in recent months. Photo: Bloomberg

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 1:58pm, 19 Aug 2024Updated: 3:21pm, 19 Aug 2024

China’s stock exchanges have stopped a real-time data feed on foreign inflows into onshore equities from Monday, stripping domestic traders of a gauge of market sentiment, as regulators seek to downplay the influence of overseas investors amid persistent outflows.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges will only publish select figures – turnover, number of trades and top 10 traded stocks via the northbound link of the Stock Connect scheme – once a day after the close of trading, according to their separate statements. Monthly and yearly data of these transactions will also be released, the statements said.

These changes came into effect after the two bourses hinted at the move in April. Before that, investors were able to access real-time data on buying and selling by overseas traders involved in the cross-border Stock Connect scheme, as well as the balance of the daily trading quota.

The move underscores the regulator’s intention to downplay the impact of foreign exodus from the nation’s US$8.3 trillion stock market, as these moves are closely monitored by some individual investors.

State media including the Economic Daily last year embarked on a propaganda campaign, urging local traders not to blindly follow foreign investors and read too much into their sell-offs, noting that overseas capital was not “smart money”.

“Judging by the global markets, the data linked to overseas funds is actually the lagging part of the market,” said Wang Kai, an analyst at Guosen Securities in Shanghai.