The delay of the much-anticipated stock trading link between Shanghai and Hong Kong has become a certainty, but analysts see limited impact on the Chinese equity market.

The start of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect will miss the widely assumed date of next Monday, given that the China Securities Regulatory Commission made no announcement on the progress of the program during Friday's regular news conference.

Analysts said the delay reflects regulators' concern that there should be sufficient preparation to assure a smooth launch of the program, which could generate daily transactions of billions of dollars.