Peer-to-peer online lender X Financial soared on its first day of New York trading, adding to a string of frenzied U.S. debuts by Chinese technology companies.
The company, based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, more than doubled in early U.S. trading Wednesday. It later pared its gains to end the day 26 percent higher at $11.97. The company had raised $104.5 million after pricing its IPO at $9.50 per American depositary share, toward the bottom of the marketed range of $9 to $11.
“A lot of people are chasing this because, although the valuations are high, if we start to see a de-escalation in the overall trade wars, then obviously these companies are going to be safe bets,” said Stephen Innes, Singapore-based head of Asia Pacific trading with Oanda Corp. “Relative to what their counterparts in the U.S. are trading at, they’re actually not too bad.”
