Shares blast off as ‘China’s Nasdaq’ debuts

Shares on Shanghai’s new Nasdaq-style technology board soared Monday, with one firm rocketing more than 500 percent, as investors rushed to grab a piece of China’s latest market liberalisation in a frenzied debut.

All 25 components on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Sci-Tech Innovation Board, or STAR Market, were driven sharply higher in a hearty initial endorsement of China’s plan to use the board to help fund fast-growing tech firms and discourage them listing abroad.

Anji Technology, a solar energy battery manufacturer, closed morning trade up 415.44 percent at 202 yuan after earlier soaring as high as 520 percent.

The board’s biggest component, China Railway Signal & Communication, rose 125.64 percent to 13.20 yuan on market-leading turnover of 7.6 billion yuan ($1.1 billion).

The introduction of the board, for which listing and trading rules have been dramatically eased, represents one of China’s most significant financial market reforms yet and a potential weapon in its growing

tech rivalry with the United States.

The tech board is yet to draw any household names.

But China hopes it will eventually include listings from among the country’s rich stable of tech “unicorns”—start-ups valued at a minimum $1 billion—which include Alibaba-linked mobile-payments pioneer Ant Financial, ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing, and online-services platform Meituan-Dianping.

China’s government envisions the board being mentioned in the same breath someday as the tech-heavy Nasdaq, encouraging firms to list at home after the likes of Alibaba and Baidu chose Wall Street.

 

Shares blast off as Chinas Nasdaq debuts

Shares on Shanghais new Nasdaq-style technology board soared Monday, with one firm rocketing more than 500 percent, as investors rushed to grab a piece of Chinas latest market liberalisation in a frenzied debut. All 25 components on the Shanghai Stock Exchanges Sci-Tech Innovation Board, or STAR Market, were driven sharply higher in a hearty initial endorsement of Chinas plan to use the board to help fund fast-growing tech firms and discourage them listing abroad. Anji Technology, a solar energy battery manufacturer, closed morning trade up 415.44 percent at 202 yuan after earlier soaring as high as 520 percent. The boards biggest component, China Railway Signal Communication, rose 125.64 percent to 13.20 yuan on market-leading turnover of 7.6 billion yuan ($1.1 billion). The introduction of the board, for which listing and trading rules have been dramatically eased, represents one of Chinas most significant financial market reforms yet and a potential weapon in its growing tech rivalry with the United States. The tech board is yet to draw any household names. But China hopes it will eventually include listings from among the countrys rich stable of tech unicornsstart-ups valued at a minimum $1 billionwhich include Alibaba-linked mobile-payments pioneer Ant Financial, ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing, and online-services platform Meituan-Dianping. Chinas government envisions the board being mentioned in the same breath someday as the tech-heavy Nasdaq, encouraging firms to list at home after the likes of Alibaba and Baidu chose Wall Street.