Facebook IPO watch: The US-listed Chinese Internet stocks rose mostly on Thursday, hitting new highs over the past three months, primarily due to the strong performance of the social media stocks. In addition, there are indications that the relaxation of monetary policy has provoked lending activities in the Chinese market, also supporting the shares of these Chinese companies listed in the U.S.
Facebook formally filed the IPO (initial public offering) registration statement with the U.S. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) on February 1. Facebook plans to raise $5 billion, which will hit the highest record in the history of the Internet company IPO. Analyst with Thornburg Investment Management Tim Cunningham pointed out that Facebook’s forthcoming IPO has boosted investor interest in investing in the Chinese social media companies such as Sina. Read more about the Facebook IPO valuation.
Bloomberg China-US 55 Index which tracking the Chinese stocks with the highest trading volumes rose 2.5 percent Thursday, to close at 103.76 points, the largest increase since January 10 this year. Renren (NYSE: RENN) shares rose sharply, hitting a new high over the past five months; Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) shares also recorded a new high over the past month, on account of the prospects for Facebook IPO which attract investors to buy the similar stocks.
Renren stock price increased 11.18 percent, or $0.69 to close at $6.86 per share in Thursday’s regular trading session on the New York Stock Exchange, hitting a new high since October last year. Sina stock price rose $3.90 or 6.4 percent in the regular trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange to end at $65.23 per share, recording the biggest single-day rise since March 7.
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) stock price rose $5.16, or 3.53 percent, to close at $151.32 on Thursday, recording the highest closing price over the past eight months.
Youku (NASDAQ:YOKU) shares rose $1.45, or 6.43 percent, to close at $24.01 Tursday, hitting a new high over the past month. Tudou (NASDAQ: TUDO) shares moved up $2.45, or 7.91 percent, to finish at $ 33.42. Youku and Tudou issued a joint statement on March 12, showing that Youku plans to acquire Tudou through a stock swap. According to the data provided by Bloomberg, this transaction currently worths $961 million, higher than the previously announced $925 million. Read the related article about the YOKU and TUDO merger.
51job (NASDAQ: JOBS) shares advanced 4.6 percent, to $59.39, the biggest increase over the past week. Data show that all the analysts tracking the movements of JOBS stock grade the stock a “BUY” rating.