Short sellers in Hong Kong have a long track record of shaking up share prices to make short-term profits. But their influence is waning.
US short seller Muddy Waters is the latest to have fallen short of its own expectations when it launched a series of attacks on mainland sportswear retailer Anta Sports.
On July 7, the short seller published a report accusing the company of using numerous secretly controlled distributors to fraudulently boost its margins. This caused a 7% drop in the Hong Kong-listed company's share price before trading was suspended midday.
Over the next 10 trading days, Muddy Waters followed up with...