In a trading frenzy reminiscent of the tech boom, Baidu.com shares — 13 per cent of the company was sold Thursday at $27 (U.S.) a share — increased 354 per cent in value in yesterday’s trading, closing at $122.54. The share price opened at $66, and traded as high as $151 a few hours later. More than 22 million shares traded hands in a single day. The surge, which increased Baidu’s market capitalization from $808-million to almost $4-billion, pushed the firm’s shares to the biggest first-day gain from an IPO in five years, and obliterated Google’s 18-per-cent first-day gain last year.
See also “Baidu turns up spotlight on Chinese Web stocks” from the International Herald Tribune.
