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Alibaba shares open in New York

Chris CottrellSeptember 19, 2014

Public trading of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has begun in New York. Shares in the company jumped by more than 40 percent from its initial public offering price.

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Jack Ma at the New York Stock Exchange
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Justin Lane

Alibaba began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday at $92.70 (72.22 euros), a 36 percent jump from its initial public offering price of $68.

That value quickly rose and shares reached a high of $99.70 as traders were eager to buy into an IPO poised to be the largest in history.

In the first 10 minutes alone, more than 100 million shares changed hands.

The trading debut lifted the Chinese e-commerce giant's market value to $244 billion.

If underwriters exercise their option to sell 48 million more shares in Alibaba, which the head of NYSE's global listing business, Scott Cutler, has indicated is likely, it would bring the IPO's size to a record $25 billion.

cjc/rs (Reuters, AFP)