Shares in China Construction Bank, the first of China's four big state lenders to list, settled unchanged from their IPO price at HK$2.35.
The stock, by far the most active on the Hong Kong bourse, had been expected to rise only slightly, if at all, given recent equity market weakness and the huge size of a deal that left little pent-up demand for shares.
"Everybody loses money because the pricing was too aggressive, leaving no room for retail investors to make money," said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities.
Investors were also cautious ahead of a rate-setting meeting by the US Federal Reserve, but traders said the market had already priced in the possibility of another quarter-point rise in interest rates.
"The market has priced in quite a lot of negative outlook - investors will be looking carefully at comments at the Fed meeting," said Ambrose Chang, chief investment officer at Daiwa SB Investment Hong Kong Ltd.
The Fed will meet next week to review interest rates amid growing expectations that rates will continue to rise to combat surging inflation. Hong Kong typically follows US rate moves because its currency is pegged to the US dollar.
Hong Kong's blue chip Hang Seng Index fell 77.08 points to 14,381.06. Turnover was above recent averages at HK$23.8 billion ($3.05 billion), compared to HK$16.08 billion on Wednesday.
Investors are also skittish as bird flu continues to spread in China, and ahead of the expiry of the front-month Hang Seng futures contract on Friday.
Asia's biggest oil and gas company, PetroChina Co Ltd fell 0.85 percent to HK$5.85 after sources told Reuters the company is planning to take private three listed companies including Hong Kong-traded Jilin Chemical Industrial Co Ltd as part of a group restructuring.
Trading in shares of Jilin Chemical was suspended on Thursday pending an announcement regarding privatisation, the Hong Kong stock exchange said.
Shares in Jilin Chemical last traded at HK$2.425. The stock has surged nearly 35 percent in the three months ended Wednesday.
Chinese coal producer Yanzhou Coal Mining Co slid 5.24 percent to HK$4.975 after it reported that third-quarter earnings slumped 55 percent as prices and production fell.
The stock had lost 18.6 percent in the three months through Wednesday as Chinese coal prices weakened.
Agricultural products trader C.P. Pokphand Co Ltd, which produces chicken feed, sank 5.56 percent to HK$0.425 on bird flu worries, traders said.
A 12-year-old girl died suffering flu-like symptoms in a village in central China where the mainland's third outbreak of bird flu in a week was confirmed, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.
C.P. Pokphand's stock has fallen 26 percent in the past month to close at HK$0.45 on Wednesday.