This article only represents the author's own views.
Hong Kong’s stock market may be a proxy for the massive Mainland Chinese market, but in many ways it still feels like a relative financial backwater. When Typhoon Koinu hit the city last weekend, the market had to close for half a day just as Mainland Chinese investors were returning to work from their weeklong National Day holiday.
In fact, Hong Kong is currently the world’s only major exchange that closes for bad weather. The Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges on the Chinese mainland, as well as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq in the U.S., Frankfurt Exchange in Germany and Tokyo Exchange in Japan and many others all stay open during inclement weather and even natural disasters. This quirk of Hong Kong, which bills itself as an international financial center, often baffles and exasperates investors. People on the Mainland even joke, wondering if Hong Kongers are trading their stocks outside in the open air.