- What are the trading sessions and the trading mechanism?
Answer：Pre-opening Session: From 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
- Only POS securities will be processed. For details, please refer to HKEX website.
- Only "At-auction Limit Order" will be placed to the market for matching.
- If you have placed your At-auction Limit Order, you are advised to check your order between9:00 a.m. to Order Matching whether it has been successfully accepted; if not, you may re-input your order before Order Matching. If your At-auction Limit Order price deviates 1.15 times or more from the market price, or is 0.85 times or less of that price, your order might be rejected byHKEX. Every order cannot involve more than 3,000 lots of shares.
- At-auction Limit Order(s) caznnot be modified or cancelled after 9:15 a.m.
- After order matching in the Pre-opening Session, unfilled At-auction Limit Order will beconverted to Limit Order and carried forward into the Continuous Trading Session after 9:30 a.m. on the same day.
Order Input Period: From 9:00 a.m. to 09:15 a.m.
- Input, Amend or Cancel Instructions are allowed.
- Input of new At-auction limit order with price inside the price limit (within ± 15%fromprevious closing price) will be submitted to the market. (NOT applicable to pre-defined scenarios:In the absence of the Previous Closing, IPO stocks and stock resuming, etc. For details, pleaserefer to HKEX website.)
No cancellation Period: From 9:15 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.
- Amend or Cancel instructions are not allowed.
- Buy / Sell orders with price aligned with HKEX's requirement are allowed to input.
Random Matching Period: From 9:20 a.m. to 9:22 a.m.
- Amend / Cancel instructions are not allowed.
- Buy / Sell orders with price aligned with HKEX's requirement are allowed to input.
- Order Matching will perform randomly within 2 minutes. Continuous Trading Session: From 9:30a.m. to 4:00p.m.
- Enhanced Limit Order" will be placed to market for execution.
- Enhanced Limit Order" will allow matching up to ten price queues at a time. Unfilled quan tity after matching will be stored in the system as a normal limit order at the input order price.
Closing Auction Session: From 4:00 p.m. to 4:10 p.m.
- "At-auction Limit Order" will be processed CAS Securities only. Reference Price Fixing Period: From 4:00 p.m. to 4:01 p.m.
- You can input the order instructions during this period. Please check whether the order has beensuccessfully accepted after 4:01 p.m. Order Input Period: From 4:01 p.m. to 4:06 p.m.
- At-auction limit orders within the ±5% price limit can be entered on CAS securities. Outstandingorders can also be amended or cancelled during this period.
No Cancellation Period: From 4:06 p.m. to 4:08 p.m.
- At-auction limit orders can be entered. The prices of new At-auction limit orders must bebetween the lowest ask & highest bid recorded at the end of Order Input Period (means 16:06), and no orders can be amended or cancelled.
Random Closing Period: From 4:08 p.m. to 4:10 p.m.
- The order rules from the No Cancellation period apply and the market closes randomly withintwo minutes.
- What is At-auction Orders and At-auction Limit Order?
Answer：At-auction Orders
At-auction orders are orders with no specified price. Investor enters the number of shares, and the order will be matched in time priority at the final Indicative Equilibrium Price (IEP) according to the time order (it enjoys a higher order matching priority than an at-auction limit order). Any outstanding at-auction orders after the end of the Pre-opening Session will be cancelled.
At-auction Limit Order
Investors need to enter the order with a specified price and the quantity, and an at-auction limit order will be matched in price and time priority at the final IEP. No at-auction limit order will be matched at a price worse than the final IEP. . Any outstanding at-auction limit orders at the end of the Pre-opening Session will be carried forward to the Continuous Trading Session and treated as limit orders provided that the specified price of that at-auction limit order does not deviate nine times or more from the nominal price or is one ninth or less of that price. Such orders will be put in the price queue of the input price.
- What are the differences between placing order via Electronic Channels and Manned Phone Channel?
Answer：
|
Electronic Channels |
Manned Phone Channel |
| Enhanced Limit Order |
System accepts order price within 200 spreads of the market price. The Enhanced Limit Order will be passed to the HKEX for processing once it falls within the 15 spread range of the market prices. |
System will not monitor the order price. If the order price you place deviates more than 24 spreads of the market price, your order might be rejected |
| Order Input Period |
Can Input anytime (24 hours available)
Input New Order during trading period will be effective on the same trading day, after trading session, you can input order for next trading day. |
| Sell Odd-Lot |
Yes |
Yes |
Note: At-auction Limit order has the same processing logics for all channels. If your At-auction Limit Order price deviates 1.15 times or more from the market price, or is 0.85 times or less of that price, your order might be rejected by HKEX (except Closing Auction Session).
- What is HKEX's spread table?
Answer：
Spread table of Securities
| Prices of Securities (HK$) |
Minimum Spread (HK$) |
| 0.01 – 0.25 |
0.001 |
| 0.25 – 0.5 |
0.005 |
| 0.5 – 10 |
0.01 |
| 10 – 20 |
0.02 |
| 20 – 100 |
0.05 |
| 100 – 200 |
0.10 |
| 200 – 500 |
0.20 |
| 500 – 1,000 |
0.50 |
| 1,000 – 2,000 |
1.00 |
| 2,000 – 5,000 |
2.00 |
| 5,000 – 9,995 |
5.00 |
Spread table of Exchange Traded Funds and L&I Products
| Prices of Securities (HK$) |
Minimum Spread (HK$) |
| 0.01 – 1 |
0.001 |
| 0.25 – 0.5 |
0.005 |
| 1 –5 |
0.002 |
| 5 – 10 |
0.005 |
| 10 – 20 |
0.01 |
| 20 – 100 |
0.02 |
| 100 – 200 |
0.05 |
| 200 – 500 |
0.10 |
| 500 – 1,000 |
0.20 |
| 1,000 – 2,000 |
0.50 |
| 2,000 – 9,999 |
1.00 |
- How do I know the US Securities trading status of my trade order?
Answer：Customers can enquire about or acknowledge real-time trade order status via "ICBC Smart Invest" APP and Internet Banking. Here are the details of various status messages:
| Status Message |
Description |
| Waiting Placed |
The order has not been executed and is waiting for the response of the stock exchange. |
| Placed |
The order has been placed at the market and is queued for execution. |
| Fully Executed |
All quantities of the order have been successfully traded in the market. |
| Partially Executed |
Only part of the order quantities have been successfully traded in the market. |
| Waiting Modified |
The modification instruction has not been executed and is waiting for the response of the Stock Exchange. |
| Modified |
The order has been successfully modified according to your specification. |
| Waiting Cancelled |
The cancellation instruction has not been executed and is waiting for the response of the Stock Exchange, or waiting for release the hold fund. |
| Cancelled |
The order has been successfully cancelled. |
| Placement Rejected |
Sorry, your Buy / Sell order is rejected. |
| Cancellation Rejected |
Sorry, your cancellation instruction is rejected |
| Modification Rejected |
Sorry, your modification instruction is rejected. |
| Expired |
Your order is expired. |
- How does ICBC (Asia) handle the orders when typhoon signal number 8 or above is lowered or when the black rainstorm warning is discontinued?
Answer：If typhoon signal number 8 or above is lowered or when the black rainstorm warning is discontinued, ICBC (Asia) will handle the orders as described below :
a. Before pre-opening session starts
When pre-opening session starts, the auction limit orders placed via ICBC (Asia) will be sent to HKEX as usual. Other orders will be handled in Continuous trading session and sent out to HKEX once they fall within the conditions as defined by ICBC (Asia) from time to time. b. When trading in the pre-opening session is suspended but resumes either in the morning session or afternoon session If the Pre-opening Session is cancelled due to typhoon, Black Rainstorm Warning or any other reasons by HKEX, At-auction Limit orders you have placed may not be successfully accepted. When the trading operation is resumed in the morning / afternoon session, ICBC (Asia) will monitor the orders, orders will be transmitted to HKEX's AMS/3 once they fall within the conditions as defined by ICBC (Asia) from time to time. ICBC (Asia) reserves the right to amend the above operation from time to time.
- How can I sell odd lots on electronic channels?
Answer：You can finish the sell order of odd lots by entering less than one lot of shares on the ”Trade” page on "ICBC Smart Invest" APP and confirm the selling operation as prompted. You can also select ”Sell (Only Odd Lots)” on the Securities Trading page of Internet Banking / Mobile Banking and enter the odd lot sell order.
- How will the Hong Kong stock odd lots be sold?
Answer：The Hong Kong stock odd-lot order will be executed manually, which may take longer processing time. The odd lot orders will be traded at the prevailing odd lot market prices. The odd lot market price will usually be lower than the prevailing board lot market price and the transaction amount may not be able to cover the transaction fee. ICBC (Asia) reserves the right to reject such order. If you sell a stock more than once a day, your transactions would be combined into one sell order (including odd lot shares).
- Can I amend odd-lot order?
Answer：Odd-lot sell order can only be cancelled but not be modified after placed.
- What is the Streaming Quote?
Answer：Our bank offers stock quote service based on clicks. This means system will retrieve and display real-time stock price based on every click by customers. However, stock quote, profit/loss and buy/sell order will not be updated automatically. Besides, our Streaming Quote Service includes company profiles stock market information, Hang Seng Index, financial news and commentaries. ICBC (Asia) Internet Banking streaming quote service is provided by AASTOCKS. "ICBC Smart Invest" APP streaming quote service is provided by Youyu Smart Technologies Limited.
- Does electronic channels provide Hong Kong Stocks Streaming Quotation Service?
Answer：You can apply for Hong Kong Stocks Streaming Quotation Service on Internet Banking or "ICBC Smart Invest" APP. The charges are HK$280 and HK$200 per month respectively.
Notes:
（1） Streaming quotation service fee of the current month will be waived automatically for customers with Hong Kong stock transaction amount of HK$1 million or above in the previous calendar month when applying for the streaming quote service;
（2）The Hong Kong stock streaming quotation service of ICBC (Asia) Personal Internet Banking and "ICBC Smart Invest"APP are independent, which means customers need to apply separately.
- How to apply Streaming Quotation Service for Hong Kong Stocks ?
Answer： You can go to Application page via “Investments > HK Stock > e-Tools > Streaming quote Service” on Internet Banking or “Me > HK Stock Streaming Quotation Service Applicatio” on "ICBC Smart Invest" APP, accept relevant terms and conditions and follow the steps to apply for Hong Kong Stocks Streaming Quotation Service. The Application instruction will be effective immediately if the payment amount is debited successfully.
- How to terminate Hong Kong Stocks Streaming Quotation Service?
Answer：You can check your record of Hong Kong Stocks Streaming Quotation Service on “Me > Application Record”on "ICBC Smart Invest" APP and click “Cancel” to apply for termination of service. You can also apply to cancel the Hong Kong stocks streaming quote service on the “HK Stocks > e-Tools > Streaming Stock Quote Service” page of Internet Banking, and the service will be provided to the next debit date. The cancellation instruction will be effective on the day after next debit date and the instruction should be made at least three calendar days prior to the next debit date. Note: The debit date is the last day of streaming quote service period of this month. For example, if the effective date of Hong Kong Stocks streaming quotation service is on 16 October 2020, then the next debit date is on 15 November 2020. If you want to terminate the service, you need to make the instruction on or before 12 November 2020.
- What channels can place Hong Kong Securities order?
Answer：Pre-opening Session Order Input Period ( 09:00-09:15): Only at-auction orders and at-auction limit orders are accepted. Pre-order Matching Period (09:15-09:20): Only at-auction orders are accepted. Order Matching Period (09:20-09:28): No input, modification and cancellation of orders are allowed. (The orders which are placed to the market cannot be modified or cancelled after 09:15 ) Closing Auction Session Order Input Period( 16:01-16:06): At-auction orders and at-auction limit orders could be entered, amended or cancelled, the price range of input order should be within the ±5% of the reference price. No-Cancellation Period(16:06-16:08) & Random Closing Period（16:08-16:10）: At-auction orders and at-auction limit orders could be entered, and the price range of input order should be between the lowest ask and the highest bid (The orders entered already cannot be modified or cancelled after 16:06 )(16:08-16:10：Market closes randomly within these two minutes)
- What are the types of Hong Kong stock orders?
Answer：You can check your record of Hong Kong Stocks Streaming Quotation Service on “Me > Application Record”on "ICBC Smart Invest" APP and click “Cancel” to apply for termination of service. You can also apply to cancel the Hong Kong stocks streaming quote service on the “HK Stocks > e-Tools > Streaming Stock Quote Service” page of Internet Banking, and the service will be provided to the next debit date. The cancellation instruction will be effective on the day after next debit date and the instruction should be made at least three calendar days prior to the next debit date. Note: The debit date is the last day of streaming quote service period of this month. For example, if the effective date of Hong Kong Stocks streaming quotation service is on 16 October 2020, then the next debit date is on 15 November 2020. If you want to terminate the service, you need to make the instruction on or before 12 November 2020.
- What is At-auction orders?
Answer：At-auction Orders
At-auction orders are orders with no specified price. Investor enters the number of shares, and the order will be matched in time
priority at the final Indicative Equilibrium Price (IEP) according to the time order (it enjoys a higher order matching priority than an at-auction limit order). Any outstanding at-auction orders after the end of the Pre-opening Session will be cancelled.
- What is At-auction limit orders?
Answer： At-auction Limit Order
Investors need to enter the order with a specified price and the quantity, and an at-auction limit order will be matched in price and time priority at the final IEP. No at-auction limit order will be matched at a price worse than the final IEP. . Any outstanding at-auction limit orders at the end of the Pre-opening Session will be carried forward to the Continuous Trading Session and treated as limit orders provided that the specified price of that at-auction limit order does not deviate nine times or more from the nominal price or is one ninth or less of that price. Such orders will be put in the price queue of the input price.
- What is continuous trading session?
Answer：Continuous Trading Session
9:30~12:00 and 13:00~16:00
During the continuous trading session, investors can place an order at any time and queue in line for the price. 1. Limit Order A：limit order can only be matched at a specified price. Any outstanding limit order will join the price queue of the input price. . If the input price of the sell order below the best bid price, the order will be rejected by HKEX , whereas the buy order will also be rejected if the input price of the buy order above the best ask price.
- What is Trading rule of Hong Kong stock?
Answer：Trading rule of Hong Kong stock
Hong Kong stock trading allows day trade, which means that investors can sell stocks they bought on the same day. Example: Customer A bought a lot of stock X on Monday morning,and after that, the price of stock X have a significant increase. Due to the T+0 trading rule of Hong Kong stock, customer A can sell stock X at any time to obtain profit.
- What is the Settlement rule of Hong Kong stock?
Answer：Settlement rule of Hong Kong stock
Hong Kong stock is settled based on T+2, which means that the settlement will be completed on the second trading day after transaction. Example: Customer A sold a lot of stock X on Monday,and would like to withdraw the money in the afternoon, but due to the T+2 of settlement rule, the customer cannot withdraw the money until after two working days (Wednesday). If Wednesday is a public holiday, the customer has to wait until Thursday. (In the event such as typhoon, half-day market and so on, it will be handled according to the guidelines of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange)
- What is the trading unit of Hong Kong stock?
Answer：Trading unit of Hong Kong stock
One lot is the minimum trading unit for Hong Kong stocks. The lot size varies from stock to stock. Shares which are less than one lot called odd lot. The odd lot is also tradable, but it usually sells at a discounted market price.
The Bank provides sell transaction service of odd lot only.
- What is the trading principles of Hong Kong stock?
Answer：Trading principles of Hong Kong stock
The Hong Kong stocks trading order is based on the principle of price priority, and the transaction is matched according to the order of input system.
- What is Volatility control mechanism (VCM)?
Answer：Volatility control mechanism (VCM)
Hong Kong securities market does not set price limit, but it has volatility control mechanism. (Only applies to continuous trading sessions temporarily.)
When the price of an applicable securities or futures contract fluctuates extremely due to some trading incident, the VCM’s five-minute cooling-off period offers time for investors to reassess their strategies, and helps to safeguard the market and other products against the chain effect and systematic risks arising from the trading incident. However, the VCM is not a suspension of trading as the applicable securities or futures contract can still be traded within a fixed price limit during the cooling-off period.
Normal trading without restriction will resume on the VCM-triggered instrument after the cooling-off period. It will not have any VCM monitoring on the VCM-triggered instrument within the same trading session.
- What is Spread?
Answer：A spread refers to the smallest allowable change in share price. The spread of securities depends on its share price.
- What is volume and turnover?
Answer：Volume of trade is the total quantity of transaction shares over a specific period. Higher trading volume means the shares are traded more actively. Transaction amount in a specific period = The total amount of (stock price x number of shares traded).
- What is market value and total shares?
Answer：The total market value of a listed company, means "market value" = company stock price × number of issued shares. Therefore, the market value of listed companies will increase as the stock price rises. The total number of shares issued by a listed company.
- what is Circulating shares and Circulation market value?
Answer：The part of the company’s issued shares that is circulated in the secondary market.
Circulating market value = stock price x circulating shares.
- What is 52-week high nad 52-week low?
Answer：The highest stock price in 52 weeks and The lowest stock price in 52 weeks.
- What is turnover rate?
Answer：The turnover rate = the transaction volume within a period / the total issued shares. The higher the turnover rate represents the transaction of the stock is active, and the lower the turnover rate represents the transaction of the stock is inactive.
- What is amplitude?
Answer：Amplitude=[(intra-day highest price – intra-day lowest price)/ the closing price of previous day ]x 100% Example: Previous closing price: $10, intra-day high: $14, intra-day low: $8, Amplitude is 14-8/10x100%=60%
- What is Dividend? How to calculate them?
Answer：Dividend is the distribution of a portion of the company’s earning, and paid to its shareholders.There are two payment methods: cash dividend or bonus shares.
Dividend yield
Dividend yield = dividend/stock price.
Earnings per share
Earnings per share = net profit / total number of common shares at the end of the year.
- How to calculate price-earnings ratio and price-to-book ratio?
Answer：Price-earnings ratio = share price / earnings per share (earnings per share = net profit / total number of issued shares). The price-to-earnings ratio (static LYR) is the static price-to-earnings ratio calculated from the previous year's earnings per share, and the price-to-earnings ratio (TTM) is the price-to-earnings ratio calculated from the earnings per share in the last 12 months (four quarters). Price-to-book ratio = Stock price / net asset per share (net asset per share = shareholders' equity / total number of shares).
- What is Lot Size?
Answer：The trading unit of Hong Kong stocks is lot. Different stocks have different number of shares in each lot. A lot size may be 100 shares, 200 shares or 400 shares.
- What is Minimum spread?
Answer：The minimum price difference of the stock, the order price can only be a multiple of the minimum difference.
- What are the Hong Kong stock market provides products?
Answer：The Hong Kong stock market provides products including equity securities, Exchange Traded Products, Structured Products, Real Estate Investment Trust, and debt securities, etc.
These products can be traded in the exchange market, and investors can place orders by entering the securities code. Different products have different investment targets and risks.
Equity securities are usually called stocks, including common stock and preferred stock, which are shares issued by the company to shareholders, and the price of the stock will fluctuate according to the development situation of the company.
ExchangeTraded Products include exchange traded funds and leveraged and inverse products. An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is an open-end fund that can be traded in a stock exchange market. It can be actively managed, seeking to outperform a market index; or passively managed, seeking to match the performance of a market index. A Leveraged and Inverse Product (L&I Product) is a leveraged ETF that seeks to achieve short-term investment results that correspond to the daily leveraged (2x) or daily inverse (up to -2x) of the underlying benchmark.
Listed structured products are financial instruments issued by authorized financial institutions (Issuers) and traded in HKEX. The payoff of structured products is based on the performance of the underlying asset(s), which can be stocks, stock indices, fixed income, currencies, commodities or a basket of assets. The listed structured products including derivative warrants, callable bull / bear contracts, inline warrants are currently available for listing and trading in HKEX.
A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is a group investment scheme, mostly in real estate. It aims to give investors regular returns. Debt Securities listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK) include bonds and notes which represent loans to an entity (such as a government or corporation) in which the entity promises to repay the bondholders or note-holders the total amount borrowed. That repayment in most cases is made on maturity although some loans are repayable in installments. Unlike shareholders, holders of bonds and notes are not owners of an entity, but its creditors.
- What are the charges for Hong Kong stocks?
Answer：Hong Kong stock fees are as follows: click here
- What is HKIDR?
Answer：On 10 August 2021, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published its consultation conclusions to proceed with the implementation of an investor identification regime at trading level for the securities market in Hong Kong (HKIDR).
Under the HKIDR, when an order is submitted or arranged to be submitted to the trading system of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK) for execution or where an off-exchange trade is reported to SEHK (OE Trade Reporting) by an Exchange Participant according to SEHK’s Rules of the Exchange, the order or OE Trade Reporting would be required to include an identification code assigned to the relevant client. This would enhance market surveillance by identifying the originators of the orders and trades. For more: https://www.icbcasia.com/icbc/HKIDRtc
- What is OrderQueueing?
Answer：Price Monitoring means the order has been accepted by the Securities System and kept for monitoring. It will be passed to the HKEx for processing once it falls within the 15 spread range of the market price in the continuous trading session, or will be passed to the HKEx for processing once it falls within the scope of price limit in the closing auction session.
