June is shaping up to be a bumper month on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with three Chinese privatisations alone raising up to $6.5bn, but their timing is horrid.

Two of the initial public offerings rely on the commodities boom, which has lost some of its lustre recently. There are renewed fears about China’s ability to achieve an economic soft landing. And liquidity is rapidly evaporating. US and UK mutual fund flows into Asia – a veritable flood not so long ago – are now in retreat. Asian funds’ cash holdings have sunk to the levels of loose change. Finally, underwriters reckon that hedge funds, former stalwarts of Chinese initial public offerings, have halved their participation since the start of this year.