Anticipated launch of trading program passes with no word on its fate, reports Xie Yu in Hong Kong.

The most notable equity market event on Monday in the mainland and Hong Kong was a launch that did not happen - the long-awaited start of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which had been widely expected to begin.

That was not totally a surprise, market observers conceded, but it was still a letdown. And there has not been any official word from either side on what comes next.