What China's Golden Week closures mean for the yuan, futures and Asian liquidity

Hong Kong will trade on October 2, 5, 6 and 7 without Stock Connect flows in either direction, which may leave China-focused and dual-listed shares on thinner, more offshore-driven liquidity. With the onshore yuan market shut, offshore yuan carries price discovery with less depth, and mainland commodity and financial futures are closed, so traders lose Chinese price signals for a week. Any news during the break will be priced offshore first, which raises the chance of adjustments when the mainland reopens on October 8. The scale of the People's Bank of China's liquidity operations around the holiday is also a factor for funding conditions. - Mainland China's markets and Stock Connect go dark for a week while Hong Kong reopens on Friday, leaving Hong Kong equities and the offshore yuan to carry price discovery until October 8. Summary: The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges are closed from Thursday, October 1 to Wednesday, October 7 for National Day and resume on Thursday, October 8. Stock Connect trading is suspended in both directions from October 1 to 7, and resumes on October 8, according to HKEX's Stock Connect calendar. The Hong Kong exchange is closed only on Thursday, October 1 and trades normally from Friday, October 2. The Shanghai Futures Exchange, the China Financial Futures Exchange and the Shanghai Gold Exchange are also closed from October 1 to 7, and stay shut on Saturday, October 10, a make-up working day for offices. The Shanghai Composite closed up circa 0.3% at around 3,840 on Wednesday, the last session before the break. Stock Connect, the program that links the mainland and Hong Kong stock markets, is suspended in both directions for the whole week. HKEX's Stock Connect calendar shows both Northbound and Southbound trading closed from October 1 to 7, with normal operation resuming on October 8. The link requires both markets to be open at the same time, so it stops whenever the mainland is on holiday even if Hong Kong is trading. A notice fro