Tech Stocks on Wall Street Gain on Alibaba Debut Surge of 45%

Nichole Harper
19 Sep, 2014
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street extended gains for the fifth day in a row and Internet stocks led the gainers. China based e-commerce platform operator, Alibaba Group soared 45% on its first day of trading.

[R]12:00 PM New York – Stocks on Wall Street extended gains for the fifth day in a row and Internet stocks led the gainers. China based e-commerce platform operator, Alibaba Group soared 45% on its first day of trading.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street extended gains for the fifth day and investors focused on the public offering of Alibaba Group Holding Limited.

The private measure of U.S. economic outlook for the next three to six months advanced, the Conference Board reported in New York today.

The index of leading indicators increased 0.2% in August after rising revised 1.1% in July.

Stocks are expected to be volatile on Wall Street on the day when options, futures and derivatives are scheduled to settle for the quarter.

In addition, S&P Dow Jones Indices is scheduled for a quarterly rebalance of weight allocation in the S&P 500 index.

S&P 500 index increased 4.29 or 0.2% to 2,015.65 and the Nasdaq Composite Index increased 9.59 or 0.2% to 4,603.02.

China based e-commerce giant priced its 332 million share offering at $68 a share and the stock had still not opened with demand pacing far ahead of public float.

European markets traded higher after Scotland voted to stay in the United Kingdom and the pound gained.

U.S. Movers

Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd ((BABA)) priced its initial public offering of 322 million shares at $68 a share.

The offering is expected to value the China based e-commerce at $167.6 billion and the offering is expected to surpass the previous largest global offering in 201 by Agricultural Bank of China.

European Markets

European markets traded higher after Scotland voted to stay in the United Kingdom in a historic referendum. By a 55% to 45% vote, Scottish voters decided to stay in the union and not rearrange the 307-year old constitutional arrangement.

However, the “No” vote is still going to force the United Kingdom government to provide more financial and governing powers to Scotland.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 0.4% or 30.40 to 6,849.69 and in Frankfurt the DAX index rose 0.1% or 10.08 to 9,808.21.

In Paris, CAC 40 index edged up 0.02% or 0.71 to 4,465.41.

Asian Markets

Stocks in Tokyo built on the week’s momentum and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed at high not seen since 2007.

The yen declined for the second week in a row and third day in succession and dropped past 109 mark against the dollar. The weakness in the currency provided the fuel for stock market advance and market indexes erased year-to-date losses.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 253.60 or 1.6% to 16,321.17 and closed up 0.2% in the year so far.

The broader Topix index jumped 14 or 1.1% to 1,331.91, the third weekly rise in a row and closed at a high not seen since 2008.

For the week, Nikkei 225 soared 4.2%.

The yen declined to close at 109.10 against one U.S. dollar.

Stocks on Dalal Street in Mumbai gained at the opening and the Sensex index traded near a record high but the weakness in auto makers, telecom and software service provider dragged the index.

The Sensex Index fell 21.79 to close at 27,090.42 The CNX Nifty gained 6.70 to 8,121.45. For the week, the Sensex rose 0.1% and the CNX Nifty added 0.2%.

In addition, India reported lower than expected trade deficit in August after a sharp decline in oil import price.

August trade deficit declined to $10.8 billion from $12.2 billion in July and foreign investments in stocks and bonds in the September quarter totaled to $12 billion.